Table of Contents
Executive Summary
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- The market
- Sales of bottled water continue to grow strongly
- Uncertainties ahead for bottled water
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- Figure 1: Forecast of UK value sales of bottled water, 2013-23
- Unflavoured still water accounts for two thirds of value retail sales
- Sugar concerns lead shift away from sugary drinks
- Consumers are concerned about plastic waste
- Threat to bottled water from usage of reusable bottles
- Companies and brands
- Highland Spring and Volvic outperform the market
- Nestlé Pure Life and Rubicon Spring also perform strongly
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- Figure 2: Leading brands’ sales and shares in the UK bottled water retail market, by value, 2017/18*
- Majority of new launches come from flavoured waters
- L/N/R sugar claims feature on nine in ten flavoured water launches
- Functional health claims hope to add differentiation
- Brands focusing on more sustainable packaging
- Water in cans increasing from small base
- Big bottled water brands lack differentiation
- The consumer
- Three quarters of adults drink bottled water
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- Figure 3: Frequency of drinking bottled water, by type, December 2018
- Nearly a third of adults use water filter products
- Best option out of home a reason for drinking for more than a third
- Being seen as healthier than other drinks also drives usage
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- Figure 4: Reasons for drinking bottled water, December 2018
- Efforts to reduce sugar are helping bottled water
- Bottled water at risk from people opting more for tap water
- Consumers need convincing on functional claims
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- Figure 5: Behaviours relating to bottled water, December 2018
- Concern around plastic is a major issue for industry
- Source of water and purity is important
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- Figure 6: Attitudes towards bottled water, December 2018
- What we think
Issues and Insights
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- Plastic packaging waste concerns are a major issue for industry
- The facts
- The implications
- Bottled water’s healthier image needs stretching to maintain growth
- The facts
- The implications
- Provenance and purity will become increasingly important
- The facts
- The implications
The Market – What You Need to Know
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- Sales of bottled water continue to grow strongly
- Move away from sugary drinks boosts sales
- Uncertainties ahead for bottled water
- Unflavoured still water two thirds of value retail sales
- Sugar concerns lead shift away from sugary drinks
- Consumers are concerned about plastic waste
- Plastic particles in water are another worry
- Threat from usage of reusable bottles
- Growth in number of older kids/teenagers
Market Size and Forecast
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- Sales of bottled water continue to grow strongly
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- Figure 7: UK value and volume sales of bottled water, 2013-23
- The future
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- Figure 8: Forecast of UK value sales of bottled water, 2013-23
- Figure 9: Forecast of UK volume sales of bottled water, 2013-23
- Forecast methodology
Market Segmentation
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- Unflavoured still water still accounts for two thirds of value retail sales
- Flavoured sparkling sees strong growth
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- Figure 10: UK retail value and volume sales of bottled water, by segment, 2016-18
- Long run of growth for retail and on-premise sales
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- Figure 11: UK value and volume sales of bottled water, by retail and on-premise channels, 2013-18
Market Drivers
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- Soft Drinks Industry Levy came into effect in April 2018
- Levy applies from 5g of sugar per 100ml
- Healthy eating is high on consumers’ radars, with sugar the top concern
- PHE and media put sugar in the spotlight
- More people strive to eat healthily
- Sugar concerns lead shift away from sugary drinks
- Concern around plastic poses a major issue for bottled water industry
- Consumers are concerned about plastic waste
- Government considers deposit return scheme and announces tax on plastic packaging with less than 30% recycled content
- Plastic particles in water are another source of worry
- Threat from usage of reusable bottles and free water refill stations
- Growth in number of older kids/teenagers
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- Figure 12: Trends in the age structure of the UK population, 2013-23
Companies and Brands – What You Need to Know
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- Highland Spring and Volvic outperform the market
- Nestlé Pure Life and Rubicon Spring also perform strongly
- Majority of new launches come from flavoured waters
- L/N/R sugar claims feature on nine in ten flavoured water launches
- Functional health claims hope to add differentiation
- Brands focus on more sustainable packaging
- Water in cans increasing from small base
- Flavoured waters take larger share of advertising
- Big bottled water brands lack differentiation
- Glaceau Smartwater seen as the most innovative
Market Share
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- Highland Spring and Volvic outperform the market
- Nestlé Pure Life and Rubicon benefit from children’s and flavoured offering
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- Figure 13: Leading brands’ sales and shares in the UK bottled water retail market, by value and volume, 2016/17 and 2017/18
Start-ups and Disruptors – Case Studies
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- CanO Water
- What is it?
- Founded:
- Company mission statement:
- Founder’s story:
- Mintel analyst view
- Mintel Trends
- Why it could succeed
- Why it could fail
- The verdict
- Product information
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- Figure 14: CanO Water, product list, February 2019
- Media profile
- Social media metrics
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- Figure 15: Social media metrics for CanO Water as of February 2019
- The brand’s view
- Sources of funding and support:
- Target audience:
- What consumer needs does the range meet?
- Product stockists
- Looking to the future
- Aqua Esse
- What is it?
- Founded:
- Company mission statement:
- Founder’ story:
- Mintel analyst view
- Mintel Trends
- Why it could succeed
- Why it could fail
- The verdict
- Product information
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- Figure 16: Aqua Esse, February 2019
- Media profile
- Social media metrics
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- Figure 17: Social media metrics for Aqua Esse as of February 2019
- The brand’s view
- Sources of funding and support:
- Target audience:
- What consumer needs does the range meet?
- Product stockists:
- Looking to the future:
Launch Activity and Innovation
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- Majority of new launches come from flavoured waters
- Less sweet flavours attract activity
- Brand extension and category blurring continues
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- Figure 18: New product launches in the UK bottled water retail market, by segment, 2014-18
- Flavoured waters seen as more tasty and exciting than unflavoured
- Marked variation between perception of individual products
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- Figure 19: Perception map of attribute performance of flavoured bottled water in comparison to bottled water in the UK bottled water market, April 2018-March 2019
- L/N/R sugar claims feature on nine in ten flavoured water launches
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- Figure 20: Share of flavoured bottled water launches featuring L/N/R sugar claims, 2014-18
- Functional health claims hope to add differentiation
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- Figure 21: Share of flavoured and unflavoured bottled water launches featuring functional claims, 2014-18
- Waters tap into interest in protein
- Number of other new launches promoting health and wellbeing benefits
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- Figure 22: Examples of new products making functional claims in bottled water, 2018
- Addressing concerns about plastic
- Brands focusing on more sustainable packaging
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- Figure 23: Examples of new water products in more sustainable packaging, 2018
- Water in cans increasing from small base
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- Figure 24: Share of new product launches in the UK bottled water retail market in cans, 2014-18
- Figure 25: Examples of new water products in cans, 2018
- Sparkling water launches now dominated by flavoured
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- Figure 26: New sparkling product launches in the UK bottled water market, by segment, 2014-18
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- Figure 27: Examples of new flavoured products in sparkling bottled water, 2018 and 2019
Advertising and Marketing Activity
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- Flavoured waters taking larger share of advertising
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- Figure 28: Total above-the line, online display and direct mail advertising expenditure on bottled water, by type, 2015-18
- Britvic Soft Drinks is the biggest spender in water
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- Figure 29: Total above-the line, online display and direct mail advertising expenditure on bottled water, by advertiser, 2015-18
- Volvic focuses on health and lifestyle messages
- Glaceau Smartwater announces new UK brand ambassador
- San Pellegrino takes viewers on a journey
- Robinsons emphasises real fruit and spring water combination
- Rubicon Spring uses animated humour
- Fit Water focuses on New Year resolutions and exercise
- SodaStream launches local advertising campaign
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- Figure 30: SodaStream Facebook sponsored post, February 2019
- Nielsen Ad Intel coverage
Brand Research
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- Brand map
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- Figure 31: Attitudes towards and usage of selected brands, January 2019
- Key brand metrics
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- Figure 32: Key metrics for selected brands, January 2019
- Brand attitudes: Evian is the most trusted brand
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- Figure 33: Attitudes, by brand, January 2019
- Brand personality: San Pellegrino seen as less accessible than other brands
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- Figure 34: Brand personality – Macro image, January 2019
- Highland Spring seen as most traditional
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- Figure 35: Brand personality – Micro image, January 2019
- Brand analysis
- More than four in ten see Volvic as refreshing
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- Figure 36: User profile of Volvic, January 2019
- Evian is the most trusted brand
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- Figure 37: User profile of Evian, January 2019
- Highland Spring seen as good value more than other brands
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- Figure 38: User profile of Highland Spring, January 2019
- Glaceau Smartwater is seen as the most innovative brand
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- Figure 39: User profile of Glaceau Smartwater, January 2019
- Nestlé Pure Life lacks strong associations
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- Figure 40: User profile of Nestlé Pure Life, January 2019
- San Pellegrino seen as more sophisticated and stylish than others
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- Figure 41: User profile of San Pellegrino, January 2019
The Consumer – What You Need to Know
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- Three quarters of adults drink bottled water
- Younger people are the biggest bottled water drinkers
- Nearly a third of adults use water filter products
- Best option out of home reason for drinking for a third
- Being seen as healthier than other drinks also drives usage
- Efforts to reduce sugar are helping bottled water
- Bottled water at risk from people opting more for tap water
- Consumers need convincing on functional claims
- Concern around plastic is a major issue for industry
- Source of water and purity is important
Usage of Bottled Water
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- Three quarters of adults drink bottled water
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- Figure 42: Usage of bottled water, by type, December 2016-18
- Unflavoured still is the most popular type of water
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- Figure 43: Frequency of drinking bottled water, by type, December 2018
- Younger people are the biggest bottled water drinkers
Usage of Water Filter Products and Reusable Water Bottles
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- Nearly a third of adults use water filter products
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- Figure 44: Usage of water filter products at home, December 2018
- More than half of adults carry reusable water bottles
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- Figure 45: Carrying of reusable water bottles out of home, December 2018
Reasons for Drinking Bottled Water
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- Bottled water is seen as best option out of home by more than a third
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- Figure 46: Reasons for drinking bottled water, December 2018
- Bottled water being deemed good for hydration is a big reason for drinking it
- Being seen as a healthier drinks option also drives bottled water usage
Behaviours Relating to Bottled Water
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- People’s efforts to reduce sugar are helping bottled water
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- Figure 47: Behaviours relating to bottled water, December 2018
- Bottled water at risk from people opting more for tap water
- Consumers need convincing on functional claims
Attitudes towards Bottled Water
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- Concern around plastic is a major issue for the industry
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- Figure 48: Attitudes towards bottled water, December 2018
- Cartons and cans appeal widely as alternatives to plastic bottles
- Source of water is important, microplastics are widely seen as concern
Appendix – Data Sources, Abbreviations and Supporting Information
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- Abbreviations
- Consumer research methodology
Appendix – Market Size and Forecast
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- Forecast methodology
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- Figure 49: Best- and worst-case forecast of total UK retail value sales of bottled water, 2018-23
- Figure 50: Best- and worst-case forecast of total UK retail volume sales of bottled water, 2018-23
Appendix – Market Drivers
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- EFSA low-sugar threshold undercuts the SDIL threshold
Appendix – Market Share
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- Figure 51: Leading manufacturer’s sales and shares in the UK bottled water retail market, by value and volume, 2016/17 and 2017/18
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Appendix – Launch Activity and Innovation
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- Figure 52: Share of new product launches in the UK bottled water retail market, by brands and private label, 2014-18
- Figure 53: Share of new product launches in the UK bottled water retail market, by top 25 claims, 2014-18
- Figure 54: Share of new product launches in the UK bottled water retail market, by package type, 2014-18
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- Figure 55: Share of new product launches in the UK bottled water retail market that are ‘sparkling’, 2014-18
- Figure 56: Attribute performance of flavoured bottled waters in comparison to unflavoured bottled waters in the UK bottled water market, April 2018-March 2019
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