Water demand growth has consistently outpaced unit number growth and 2008 was no exception, with sales volumes increasing by 10% to 1,641 million litres.
“Unusually last year, dispensers saw slightly higher growth than their electronic counterparts,” says Zenith director, Mark Groves. “Overall growth slowed, but bottled coolers were affected to a greater extent. Much of this was attributable to the downturn in the region’s economic climate, as cash-strapped customers opted for cheaper dispensers over bottled coolers.”
Russia and Poland remain by far the largest bottled water cooler markets in the region in terms of units and volumes. Russia retains market leadership, with 40% of units and 33% of volume. However, as the early-adopting markets begin to mature, faster growing markets such as Serbia and Romania are eroding the share of the leading countries.
Unlike west Europe, point of use (POU) coolers have yet to make significant inroads in the east. Nevertheless, their availability is increasing in some more established bottled cooler markets such as Poland. So POU is expected to become a key challenge for operators in the future, as is being seen across the west.
Looking to the future, Zenith forecasts that there will be just over two million bottled water coolers, dispensers and pumps across east Europe by 2013, with electronic coolers accounting for over 70%.
Source: Zenith International
© FoodBev Media Ltd 2024