Description
Stay ahead of the curve and secure future growth for your business with Mintel’s UK Bottled Water Market Report 2023. Our full report is packed with consumer-led market intelligence, the latest trends and consumer behaviours affecting your industry. Get a 360° view of the UK Bottled Water industry including market size, share and forecasted growth to help you align your business strategy with the needs of your audience.
Below, we’ve handpicked the key insights analysed in the full report and summarised the core topics.
Key Topics Covered in this Report
- The impact of the income squeeze on the bottled water market.
- The outlook for the market in the as household incomes regain momentum up to 2027.
- The latest new product development trends.
- Consumers’ usage of bottled water, as well as water filter systems and sparkling water makers.
- Consumer behaviours and attitudes towards bottled water, including related to sustainability and hydration.
UK Bottled Water – Current Market Landscape
The UK Bottled Water Market continued its post-COVID recovery in 2022, but the rising cost of living has curbed this rebound and prompted many consumers to opt for tap water over bottled. Mintel forecasts a value growth of 12% over the next five years, however this will be mostly driven by inflation and volume sales are forecast to fall by 2%.
- UK bottled water market segmentation: Unflavoured still water leads the category, accounting for 64% of sales in the category.
- UK bottled water market share: Volvic and Evian were the market leaders in 2022, each with 12% of the market share.
UK Bottled Water Market Trends and Opportunities
Focus on environmentally-friendly endeavours
Half of bottled water consumers state that money concerns cause them to think less about the sustainability of bottled water. However, this does not mean sustainability has disappeared from consumers’ minds altogether, and once the income squeeze softens, consumer concerns about sustainability are expected to return. There are plenty of opportunities for bottled water brands. For example, two thirds of consumers say that knowing the bottles are properly recycled would make them buy more.
Position bottled water as supporting mental performance
There are opportunities for bottled water brands to lean into the popular view that being optimally hydrated is important for mental performance. Educating consumers on their needs and how to best address them offers a means for individual brands to forge positive links with this topic, as 58% of bottled water users want to find out more about their hydration needs. Fortification also holds potential for brands to tap into this, as 45% of bottled water users say that adding supplements to water to give it extra hydration benefits appeals to them.
Key Players in the Bottled Water Market
This report looks at market share and sales of the leading brands in the UK bottled water market, including Volvic, Evian, Highland Speing, Buxton, Pure Life, San Pellegrino, and more.
Additional Features Included with Your Purchase
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Purchase our full UK Bottled Water Market Report to discover lucrative innovation opportunities to help your business grow during times of financial uncertainty.
Expert Analysis from a Drinks Industry Analyst
This report, written by Marine Seon, a leading drinks industry analyst, delivers in-depth commentary and analysis to highlight current trends in the bottled water market and add expert context to the numbers.
Competition from tap water continues to pose a key challenge for the market. The convenience and safety of bottled water remain key usage drivers for the category, and aspects for individual brands to lean into, together with the perceived importance of hydration. Sustainability has become a lesser priority amid the cost of living crisis, but is expected to rebound, necessitating continued investment in this area.
Marine Seon
Senior Research Analyst
Table of Contents
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Overview
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- Key issues covered in this Report
- Products covered in this Report
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Executive Summary
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- The five-year outlook for bottled water
- Figure 1: Category outlook, 2023-27
- The market
- Market size and forecast
- Figure 2: Market size for value sales of bottles water 2022-27
- 2022 sees on-premise recovery continue
- Figure 3: UK value sales of bottled water, by channel, 2017-22
- Strong consumer demand for sustainable packaging
- Water contamination makes headlines
- The Deposit Return Scheme is delayed till 2025
- Companies and brands
- Mixed performance for leading brands, and surge in own-label sales
- Figure 4: Leading brands’ value sales in the UK bottled water retail market, 2020/21-2022/23
- Flavour innovation and sustainability feature in new product launches
- Adspend falls further in 2022, after a sharp drop in 2020
- In a market where differentiation is difficult, San Pellegrino stands out most
- Figure 5: Attitudes towards and usage of selected brands, 2023
- The consumer
- Usage of bottled water, especially still unflavoured, is on the rise
- Figure 6: Usage of bottled water, by type, by frequency, 2020-23
- Nearly two in five use water filter products at home
- Younger generations drive reusable bottle usage
- Figure 7: Carrying of a reusable water bottle when out of home, by generation, 2023
- Income pressures and at-home use drive opportunities for larger formats
- Look to alternative packaging materials and recyclability
- Figure 8: Behaviours related to bottled water, 2023
- Concerns over global water shortages stand to pose a threat to bottled water
- Fortified water can tap the strong interest in hydration
- Figure 9: Attitudes towards bottled water, 2023
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Issues and Insights
- The rising cost of living and supply chain issues dampened the expected post-pandemic rebound
- Link quality to sustainability and sourcing
- Look to enhanced hydration as supporting mental performance
- The rising cost of living and supply chain issues dampened the expected post-pandemic rebound
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Market Size and Performance
- Positive growth and a return almost to 2018 volumes in 2022
- Figure 10: UK total value and volume sales of bottled water, 2016-22
- Positive growth and a return almost to 2018 volumes in 2022
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Market Forecast
- The five-year forecast of bottled water
- Figure 11: Category outlook, 2023-27
- Value growth of 12% expected over 2022-27, volume sales to fall by 2%
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- Figure 12: Market forecast for value sales of bottled water, 2022-27
- Figure 13: Market forecast for volume sales of bottled water, 2022-27
- Learnings from the last income squeeze
- Forecast methodology
- The five-year forecast of bottled water
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Market Segmentation
- Amidst modest growth in 2022, unflavoured still water outperforms
- Figure 14: UK retail value and volume sales of bottled water, by segment, 2020-22
- Amidst modest growth in 2022, unflavoured still water outperforms
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Channels to Market
- The pandemic saw bottled water volumes fall by a tenth
- Retail surpasses pre-pandemic levels in 2022, on-premise still lags
- Figure 15: UK value and volume sales of bottled water, by channel, 2017-22
- The pandemic saw bottled water volumes fall by a tenth
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Market Drivers
- Inflation will continue to eat into consumer spending power over the course of 2023
- Further interest rates increases will hit mortgage-holders
- High inflation and rising interest rates will compound the impact of the slowing recovery
- Consumer spending power will be curbed
- Low unemployment is helping underpin consumer confidence
- Consumers’ financial wellbeing has fallen from the highs of 2021…
- Figure 16: Household financial wellbeing index, 2016-23
- …and most people are feeling the effects of price rises
- Boost to bottled water from heatwaves curbed by supply chain issues
- Strong consumer demand for sustainable packaging
- Water contamination makes headlines
- Inflation will continue to eat into consumer spending power over the course of 2023
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Regulatory and Legislative Changes
- The Deposit Return Scheme is delayed till 2025
- The Deposit Return Scheme is delayed till 2025
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Market Share
- Mixed performances for leading brands in 2022/23
- Figure 17: Leading brand’s sales and shares in the UK bottled water retail market, by value and volume, 2020/21-2022/23
- Mixed performances for leading brands in 2022/23
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Launch Activity and Innovation
- Bottled water is losing share of soft drinks launches
- Figure 18: Share of launches in the soft drink market, by segment, 2018-22
- More activity in larger pack sizes
- Flavoured water attracts branded and own-brand launches
- Dash Water and Volvic launch new flavours based on consumer feedback
- Britvic and Evian explore refills, Fiji goes rPET and Lidl goes PoP
- FYX collagen waters launch into Holland & Barrrett
- Figure 19: FYX collagen water variants, UK, 2022
- Bottled water is losing share of soft drinks launches
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Advertising and Marketing Activity
- Adspend falls further in 2022, after a sharp drop in 2020
- Figure 20: Total above-the line, online display and direct mail advertising expenditure on bottled water, 2019-23
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- Figure 21: Total above –the-line, online display and direct mail advertising expenditure on bottled water, by advertiser, ordered by 2022, 2020-23
- Buxton links with better health for the planet and consumers
- Net-zero target for Highland Springs
- Aqua Libra is cleaning up Canary Wharf’s waters of plastic pollution
- Radnor Hills links with Alton Towers
- Evian and Balmain collaborate for the second time focusing on fashion
- The reusable water bottle brand Chilly’s reaches out to ‘big water’ in a campaign against single-use plastic
- Nielsen Ad Intel coverage
- Adspend falls further in 2022, after a sharp drop in 2020
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Brand Research
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- Brand map
- Figure 22: Attitudes towards and usage of selected brands, 2023
- Key brand metrics – Evian leads on awareness and usage, but Highland Spring “springs” up
- Figure 23: Key metrics for selected brands, 2023
- Brand attitudes: Evian and Highland Spring lead on trust, value perceptions remains stable
- Figure 24: Attitudes, by brand, 2023
- Brand personality: Water brands are seen as ethical by two in five
- Figure 25: Brand personality – macro image, 2023
- Brand Image – San Pellegrino stands out for stylish, fun and sophisticated connotations
- Figure 26: Brand personality – micro image, 2023
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Usage of Bottled Water
- Usage of bottled water is on the rise
- Figure 27: Usage of bottled water, by type, by frequency, 2020-23
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- Figure 28: Usage of bottled water by type, by generation, 2023
- Usage of bottled water is on the rise
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Usage of Water Filter Products, Sparkling Water Makers, Reusable Water Bottles and Public Water Refill Points
- Nearly two in five use water filter products at home
- Perception of tap water safety and bottled water’s social image contribute to usage
- Cost of filters and sparkling water makers is a barrier
- Figure 29: Usage of water filter products and sparkling water makers at home, 2023
- Younger generations drive reusable bottle usage
- Figure 30: Carrying of a reusable water bottle when out of home, by generation, 2023
- Nearly two in five use water filter products at home
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Behaviours related to Bottled Water
- Expand larger formats offerings for the home
- Figure 31: Behaviours related to bottled water, 2023
- Pressure on incomes lends relevance to larger formats
- Figure 32: Steps consumers would take if needing to limit/reduce spend on bottled water, 2023
- Look to alternative packaging materials and recyclability
- Packaging is a key touch point for sustainability
- Two in three look for recycled plastic
- Consumers look for reassurances on recycling
- Expand larger formats offerings for the home
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Attitudes towards Bottled Water
- Highlight quality standards of purity of source to stand out
- Figure 33: Attitudes towards bottled water, 2023
- Concerns over global water shortages stand to pose a threat to bottled water
- Consumers link UK sourcing to sustainability
- Fortified water can tap the strong interest in hydration
- Figure 34: Launches with added electrolytes marketed as hydrating/added hydration, UK, 2018-21
- Highlight quality standards of purity of source to stand out
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Appendix – Data Sources, Abbreviations and Supporting Information
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- Abbreviations
- Consumer research methodology
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Appendix – Forecast Methodology
- Market forecast and prediction intervals
- Figure 35: Market size and forecast for total volume and value sales of bottled water, 2017-27
- Figure 36: Market forecast and prediction intervals for total value sales of bottled water, 2022-27
- Figure 37: Market forecast and prediction intervals for total volume sales of bottled water, 2022-27
- Market drivers and assumptions
- Forecast methodology
- Market forecast and prediction intervals
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Appendix – Market Share
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- Figure 38: Leading manufacturers’ sales and shares in the UK bottled water retail market, by value and volume, 2020/21-2022/23
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About the report
This market report provides in-depth analysis and insight supported by a range of data. At the same time, introductory and top-level content is provided to give you an overview of the issues covered.
Market
Mintel provides a range of market information, frequently through the category level, including market size and forecasting, complete with market drivers that illustrate the forces that shape a category or market.
Consumer
Mintel’s proprietary consumer research provides our analysts with the attitudinal and behavioral data used to provide valuable insight to topical issues.
Brand/Company
Mintel provides overviews of the top brands and manufacturers, and uses consumer research to explore attitudes and reactions to brands, as well as insight into what will resonate with consumers.
Data
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*databooks not available with UK B2B Industry reports.
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