Bottled water has retained its title as America’s favourite packaged drink, outselling carbonated soft drinks (by volume) for the eighth year in a row, new data from the Beverage Marketing Corporation (BMC) shows.
Bottled water’s total volume sold in 2023 was 15.94 billion gallons, compared to carbonated soft drinks, which sold 11.84 billion gallons. Bottled water retail sales surpassed USD 48 billion, up 6.5 % from 2022.
“Multiple characteristics account for bottled water’s resonance with U.S. consumers, including its associations with healthfulness, convenience, safety, and value. An array of packaging types, ranging from single-serve to bulk, facilitates a wide range of uses,” says John G. Rodwan, Jr., BMC’s editorial director.
“Consumers’ thirst for beverages that offer benefits beyond refreshment alone also contributed to the fundamental hydrating beverage’s rise in the beverage standings. Bottled water’s zero-calorie status and its lack of artificial ingredients appeal to many consumers. Even where tap water may be safe and readily available, people may prefer bottled water, which they often believe tastes better. The availability of packaged water wherever beverages are sold also differentiates bottled water from tap,” says Rodwan.
Bottled water products compete with other packaged drinks, but not tap water. Most bottled water drinkers consume both tap water and bottled water, packaged conveniently in 3 and 5-gallon for the home and office, or at retail 1 and 2.5 gallon or individual size commonly sold by the case. However, when people are away from home and bottled water isn’t available, 70 % say they will choose another packaged drink, according to a survey conducted in 2022 on behalf of the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) by The Harris Poll. Survey respondent choices were as follows: soda (22 %), sparkling or sweetened or flavored bottled water (10 %), sports drink (8 %), tea (7 %), coffee (6 %), juice/fruit drinks (5 %), functional water (5 %), bottled tea (4 %), energy drink (3 %). Among the remaining 30 %, a third (10 %) would drink from a water dispenser, either using a refillable cup (5 %) or disposable cup (5 %). Ten percent would drink filtered tap water, 6 % would drink unfiltered tap water, while 4 % would drink from a public water fountain (down from 7 % in 2019).
For more than a decade, consumers have been increasingly choosing bottled water instead of less-healthy packaged drinks. In fact, since 2012, 34 % of bottled water’s growth has come from people switching from less-healthy drinks to bottled water.
Bottled water’s volume surpassed soft drinks for the first time in 2016 and has done so every year since. Americans consumed, on average, 46.4 gallons of bottled water in 2023, compared to 34.4 gallons of soda. The fact is that consumers demand bottled water. Research shows that nine out of 10 Americans (91 %) say they expect bottled water to be available wherever other drinks are sold.
“Consumer preference for healthy hydration and bottled water is really good news for public health,” says Jill Culora, IBWA’s vice president of communications. “This is particularly important as the nation continues to experience high rates of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.”
“Bottled water also has the added benefit of packaging that is 100 % recyclable, unlike laminated paper cartons, which technically can be recycled but most often they are not accepted by the majority of municipal recycling systems in the United States. Not only are bottled water containers 100 % recyclable (including the cap) but they also use much less plastic than other packaged beverages.”
Even with continuing growth and increased consumption, bottled water still has the smallest impact on the environment—thanks to the fact that it has the smallest water and energy use footprint of any packaged beverage. On average, only 1.4 liters of water (including the 1 liter of water consumed) and 0.21 mega joules of energy are used to produce 1 liter of finished bottled water.
Most bottled water is packaged in 100 % recyclable PET #1 plastic and HDPE #2 plastic, which are the plastics most recognised by consumers as being recyclable and the most recycled plastics in the world. Consumers can be confident about recycling plastic bottled water containers because they are among the few consumer packaging types that are universally recyclable across the United States. Not all cities and towns recycle glass bottles and laminated paper cartons, which are most commonly comprised of multiple layers of paper, plastic, and aluminum or wax.
PET plastic bottled water containers are the most recycled containers in U.S. curbside recycling programs, accounting for 52 %. PET plastic bottled water containers are a valuable resource because they can be recycled and used over and over again.
Recycling facilities know that there is a huge industry demand for post-consumer PET and HDPE plastics. Many bottled water companies use recycled PET and HDPE plastic to create new bottles, which helps to reduce their environmental impact further because they aren’t using virgin plastic.
“Helping people make healthier choices is at the core of the bottled water business,” says Culora. “Consumers have made it clear that there’s a demand for safe, healthy, and convenient bottled water, as they are responsible for propelling bottled water to the title of America’s most popular packaged beverage, by volume.”
Shelf life of bottled natural fruit juice (BNFJ) provides relevant information on quality and authenticity for consumer protection. However, existing techniques for monitoring the shelf life of BNFJ are destructive and time-consuming. We report on using laser-induced autofluorescence (LIAF) spectroscopic technique in combination with multivariate analysis for shelf life monitoring of BNFJ. The LIAF spectra data were acquired for nine1 continuous days on three batches of BNFJ samples purchased from a certified retailer. Deconvolution of the LIAF spectra revealed underlying peaks representing constituents of the BNFJ. Principal component analysis (PCA) was able to monitor the trend in the changes of the BNFJ as it aged. Partial least square regression (PLSR) predicted the exact day from the production of the BNFJ accurately at 96.6 % and 98.8 % in the training and testing sets, respectively. We, therefore, propose the LIAF combined with multivariate analysis as a potential tool for nondestructive, rapid, and relatively inexpensive monitoring of the shelf life of BNFJ.
You can download the complete research article for free under: https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijo/2023/7458190/
1H. W. Yeom, C. B. Streaker, Q. H. Zhang, and D. B. Min, “Effects of pulsed electric fields on the quality of orange juice and comparison with heat pasteurization,” Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, vol. 48, no. 10, pp. 4597–4605, 2000.
Copyright 2023 Peter Osei-Wusu Adueming et al
As per a new Fact.MR analysis, the global bottled tea market is forecasted to expand at a CAGR of 4.5 % from 2023 to 2033. The market is valued at USD 50 billion in 2023 and is thus expected to reach a size of USD 78 billion by the end of 2033.
Black tea is also well known as a source of antioxidants that aid in the body’s elimination of free radicals. It doesn’t have any sodium, fat, sugar, carbonation, or added sweetness. It is almost calorie-free. It supports maintaining a proper fluid balance and improves general health.
- The camellia sinensis plant is used to produce all varieties of tea products, including green, black, oolong, and white, as per the National Institutes of Health.
“Rising adoption of flavoured bottled tea by Millennials”
Millennials choose tea in bottles over freshly brewed tea produced at home. The growing adoption of flavoured bottled tea by young consumers is boosting market expansion. Global demand for bottled iced tea beverages has been aided by Generation Z.
Decreased stress, antioxidants, and hydration are a few of the advantages of drinking bottled iced tea. As a result, people are adopting this beverage and supporting market growth. Also, the antioxidants in iced tea have the power to purify the body, eliminate toxins that have built up, and improve health.
“Increasing demand for discrete flavours of bottled tea in North America”
North America accounts for 60 % share of the global market due to rising customer desire for ready-to-drink beverages and consumer-driven product innovations.
Increasing demand for discrete flavours of bottled tea and the availability of premium tea brands are the elements supporting market expansion in the region.
Competitive landscape
Leading companies are attempting to boost their market presence by utilising novel ingredients & flavour combinations and maintaining quality control. Key bottled tea manufacturers are implementing strategies such as new developments, enhancing product standards, and launching new products following safety regulations to lower the environmental impact. They are focusing on authenticity and packaging, pricing trends, and improving supply chain management.
For instance,
- Tiesta Tea, a Chicago-based loose-leaf tea company, launched a new line of functional cold-brew bottled tea in targeted grocery stores in the U.S.
- Buddha Teas, a California-based brand ventured into Latin America, Mexico, with its bottled tea and beverages, cannabidiol blends, and RTD matcha beverages.
- DanonWave-owned Brand Stok launched a new range of cold brew beverages, including Stok Yerba Mate Cold Brew Teas, which are ready-to-drink bottled tea ranges.
- Arcadia Beverage launched Zumora, a new clean-label beverage line, including bottled tea.
These insights are based on a report on Bottled Tea Market by Fact.MR.
Last year’s hot summer boosted UK water drinks consumption by more than 7 % to 4,267 million litres, according to a new report from food and drink experts Zenith Global. This was worth an estimated £ 3,330 million at retail prices.
Sales of plain bottled water in retail packs increased by 7.9 % to 3.4 billion litres, whilst sales of flavoured, functional and juicy waters rose by 7.2 %.
A key driver behind the growth was the warmest summer on record, according to the Met Office. The new soft drinks levy from April 2018, on products with a higher added sugar content, appears to have had a limited impact, after most manufacturers pre-emptively reformulated many products to avoid the tax.
Pressure undoubtedly increased on producers to improve their environmental profile. For the first time, the report documents packaging innovations such as recycled content as well as examining initiatives in recycling and deposit return schemes.
Zenith Global predicts that the UK market will continue to grow robustly, but at a slower pace than in recent years. “Our forecasts to 2023 show an upward trend of 3 – 5 % a year,” commented Zenith Global Senior Consultant Robin Bell. “Debate about plastic and recycling are likely to remain centre stage and we expect to see more packaging from alternative materials becoming mainstream,” he concluded.
