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Consumption of branded water in Africa has risen by approximately 2,500m litres per year since 2010, making water safer to drink, according to insights company Canadean.
More regulated brands are entering the market with SABMiller’s CoolPac, the biggest brand across Africa, experiencing an increase in volume of 27% in the last year alone.
Brands are offering water in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles rather than the less regulated low-density polyethylene (LDPE) sachets on sale across much of Africa. This is especially being seen in Cameroon where PET introductions are on the rise. This trend is set to continue as more brands enter the region in the future. There is also a movement from LDPE sachets towards PET as companies upgrade their offerings.
In both South Africa and Nigeria, the 150cl bottle is the leading PET format for brands thanks to its value-for-money appeal. However, the growth in the economies of these countries has seen a rise in on-the-go consumption, boosting the popularity of single-serve packs. In Nigeria, Coca-Cola’s Eva is the leading brand in PET, followed by Ragolis (Chagoury Group) and Nestlé Pure Life. The cost of PET-packaged brands compared with sachets remains a key issue for the consumer and it is likely that more producers other than the leading brands could upgrade from 50cl to offering more 75cl formats, Canadean predicted.
And it concluded that the rise in popularity of branded waters could be an important step in securing the safety of drinking water across the continent.
“With this growth in branded water being seen it will not be long until all nations in Africa have the same high level of safe water,” said Canadean beverage analyst Emma Wright.
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