Still sparkling - 15% rise for East Europe bottled water
Bottled water sales in East Europe increased by 15% during 2006 to 11,932 million litres, according to the latest report from global drinks consultancy Zenith International. Rising standards of living along with a greater appreciation of health and hydration have helped almost double consumption per person since 2001 to 38 litres a year. Since the West European average is 110 litres per person, the market is likely to hold substantial further potential for water bottlers.
"All 15 national markets grew in 2006," commented Zenith Research Director Gary Roethenbaugh. "Volumes have jumped by an impressive 71% since 2001 and we believe they will climb 34% more over the next five years."
Hungary was the fastest growing country last year, increasing sales by 24% to over 870 million litres. The region's largest and most established market of Poland advanced 23%, following a period of mixed fortunes. Russia, Bulgaria and Estonia all continued to build on the huge advances made since 2001, with five year volume growth of 118%, 138% and 140% respectively. The Czech Republic remains the highest consuming country at 93 litres per person.
"The last few years have seen significant players with strong sparkling mineral water traditions launch still or lightly sparkling variants," continued Gary Roethenbaugh. "A growing cooler industry is providing an extra boost to still water in some countries."
While sparkling water figures continue to improve, still water has greatly increased its share of the market from 32% in 2001 to 46% in 2006. Nevertheless, sparkling water dominates ten of the 15 national markets, with just two countries - Serbia and Latvia - likely to switch over in the next year or two.
Growth in the cooler industry stands not only to boost still water volumes, but also to promote a shift away from mineral water to spring and other water types. The advent of greater international competition has also brought more non-mineral waters to retail outlets, posing a potential challenge to the curative mineral waters that have traditionally attracted considerable consumer loyalty. While older consumers continue to underpin traditional sparkling mineral waters, younger consumers are increasingly taking to newer international brands.
East Europe Bottled Water 2007 contains over 120 pages of commentary, charts and tables on the plain bottled water markets of Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Ukraine. Contact Zenith International on tel +44 (0)1225 327900, fax +44 (0)1225 327901 or e-mail info@zenithinternational.com
Notes for Editors
- Zenith International's definition of plain bottled water includes still and sparkling water (natural mineral, spring and processed) in a packaged format (both small pack and water for coolers).
- For further information, please contact:
Gary Roethenbaugh or Stuart Foxon, Zenith International Ltd
7 Kingsmead Square, Bath BA1 2AB, United Kingdom
t +44 (0)1225 327900, f +44 (0)1225 327901
zenithinternational.com