The association of drinking plenty of water with a healthy lifestyle is behind the growing demand for bottled water. "Bottled water is a safe and easily accessible drink that consumers choose to stay refreshed and hydrated. And it is growing in popularity as people choose it over other soft drinks because it does not contain calories, caffeine, or artificial colours," comments Nick Beevors, Consumer Markets Analyst at Datamonitor and author of the report.

 Per capita consumption is currently highest in countries where the practice of drinking bottled water is more established such as in Italy (234 litres per person per year), France (142.5) and Spain (143.2). However, countries with traditionally lower sales in bottled water such as the UK are seeing extraordinary growth. British consumers drank, on average, 41 litres of bottled water per person in 2007. In the UK, per capita volume growth was a CAGR of 8 per cent between 2002 and 2007, the fastest growth in Europe, and is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 7 per cent between 2007 and 2012. This would result in the average Brit drinking 57.8 litres of bottled water per year in 2012.

British consumers want to stay hydrated

Datamonitor's 2006 consumer survey found that 88 per cent of UK consumers believe drinking plenty of water an important or very important dietary approach. As well as helping general health and appearance hydration is important to peoples' mental and physical performance with regard to their work and leisure pursuits. Hydration is an important cognitive function and dehydration is the number one cause of daytime fatigue and can adversely affect mental performance. Symptoms of mild dehydration include light-headedness, dizziness, headaches and tiredness, as well as reduced alertness and ability to concentrate.

Ethical concerns

Ethical and environmental consumption is a hot topic and growing trend across Europe and the US. Consumers are increasingly using their product choices as a way to express their beliefs, and products that don't match these values may become threatened in the future. Bottled water has increasingly been a target of campaigners, such as the Evening Standard's ‘Water on Tap' campaign in the nation's capital, due to its poor ethical image and association with waste.

Packaging and carbon footprints in the future will be key environmental performance indicators as people begin to monitor their own contribution to climate change. Manufacturers and marketers will increasingly demonstrate their commitment to sustainability by minimizing packaging and carbon emissions to be seen as making credible steps towards sustainability and maintain the British public's strong relationship with bottled water.

http://www.datamonitor.com/

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