The Thirst For Bottled Water Continues To Grow
Feb 01, 2016These numbers seem to indicate that consumers continue to demonstrate enthusiasm for bottled water and that most still see this as a healthy alternative to other beverages. In the U.S., bottled water consumption increased from 23.2 gallons per person in 2004 to 34 gallons per person in 2014. In the same time frame, soft drink consumption dropped by more than 12 gallons. Consumption of other beverages like milk and juices also decreased per person.
These numbers show a promising trend for more health drink choices in the coming year. Water bottle companies discuss this data in terms of “share of stomach” as the overall beverage share that bottled water went from 14.4% in 2009 to 17.8% in 2014. Still, soft drinks still hold the majority of market share when it comes to beverage sales even though their market share has declined consistently since the mid-2000s. . Some bottled water experts feel that if these trends continue, bottled water could take the lead by the end of the decade.
Bottled water sales increased by more than 6% to just over $13 billion in 2014, and total bottled water consumption in this country grew by over 7% to 10.87 billion gallons. This number is up from 10.13 billion gallons from the previous year. In 2014, every person in America drank an average of 34 gallons of bottled water.
There seems to be many contributing factors for the upward trend in bottled water consumption. There’s no denying the health benefits of drinking water over soft drinks, but there is also an increased awareness of some of the negative health effects of carbonated beverages such as weight problems, diabetes and other health problems. As Americans become more health conscious, drinking bottled water just makes sense.
Many people don’t realize that bottled water is heavily regulated by the FDA and that these regulations are very stringent as to the quality of the bottled water. In some cases, such as the prevention of toxins like lead, E.coli and others, the regulations are monitored even more closely for our safety. Also, the bottled water industry self regulates and is known for leaving the smallest environmental footprint of any packaged beverage. Bottlers use a variety of methods to reduce the impact they have on the environment. In fact, most bottlers use recycled plastic in their bottles and many are moving toward using 100% recyclable
Recent data from the EPA indicates that plastic water bottles make up less than one third of one percent of the U.S. waste stream. Many are shocked by that information, but bottled water companies work closely with recycling advocates an others to increase the recycling that goes on.
The increase in bottled water consumption provides a nice tie in to increasing your brand awareness for the business owner who decides to put his/her logo on water bottle labels. There are many reasons custom labeled bottled water helps attract more business. When you consider that the average person takes anywhere from 8 to 15 minutes to drink a bottle of water, if your business is on the label, that’s a lot of actual “face time” for your business. Considering that the average person notices a TV or radio ad for a few seconds, a billboard for the same, having your business on a water bottle label has one of the longest exposures of any other marketing vehicle.
Plus, when a business makes the decision to hand out customer water bottles at an expo or conference, this increases the exposure of the business exponentially. There is something deeply psychological about meeting a basic human need of your potential customers by hydrating them as well as exposing them to your business logo. Used in this way, it’s an elegant approach to marketing.
Since 2005, Liquid Promotions has been working with businesses of all sizes to increase their brand awareness by putting your logo on beautifully created water bottle labels. Great for waiting rooms, conferences, car dealerships, golf courses and so much more, our water bottles help you put your business in the hands of your next customer. Make a refreshing impression with custom labeled bottled water.
