Consumption of bottled water has increased while lowering the sales rates of carbonated soda due to consumers’ choices in beverages.
Since the previous year, bottled water consumption has increased by 7.9 percent and sales rates have risen by 8.9 percent. According to the Beverage Marketing Corporation, bottled water was a 16 billion dollar industry in 2016, almost tripling since 2000.
Bottled water has become the largest beverage category in the United Sates surpassing carbonated soft drinks. It is starting to become the norm, the new normal, to drink bottled water rather than other sugared, soft drinks.
Major beverage companies aren’t welcoming this new trend for water since water doesn’t attract loyalty from consumers. Water is an interest which can be consumed in any situation cold or room temperature and every day, therefore, it can be purchased without an interest in the branding it carries.
However, beverage companies are being to move towards the water business such as Coke and Pepsi. Coke the owner of Desani and Pepsi owner of Aquafine have managed to make up 11 percent of bottled water sales in the country.
Now, there are various factors as into why the consumption of bottled water has increased over the previous year. One of the reasons is, consumers are making more healthier choices to drinks beverages that have less to no sugar added.
Health trends, such as diets and the need to eat more natural food and drinks, have in some way pushed towards bottled water to the top.
Bottled water has also been used to replace the tap water for convenience and for the safety reasons of consumer’s perceived purity of the water. The lead contamination in the water in Flint, Michigan could have raised concerns of tap water, not just in Flint, but all tap water.
Scientific reports, however, have been urging public awareness on the regulations of the industry of bottled water. Bottled water plants are subject to the inspections and monitoring from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), but despite regulation, they are given low priority compared to other food plants.
Consumers are spending 3 hundred more times on the cost of tap water than getting it for free which can cause environmental concerns. The number of plastic bottles add to the landfill due to lack of the recycling process.
Water plants can have another environmental impact on the local groundwater reserves and streams. By taking too much of the water source it can reduce or exhaust groundwater reserves, streams, and rivers which can cause stress on ecosystems.
Yet, bottled water continues increase in consumption and sales while lowering sales for the sodas and soft drinks.
