The East European water cooler market expanded to almost 2.0 million units installed at the end of 2014, up 3.4% on 2013, according to a new report from Zenith International.
The market is still dominated by bottled water coolers with a 64.4% share, followed by pumps and other dispensers on 32.2%. Despite each of these traditional segments seeing a 3.1% increase in units, they continued to lose share. Point of use mains water coolers advanced by 13.3% to nearly 70,000 units and a 3.4% share.
Estonia and Latvia were among the best performing markets, rising at double digit rates. Nevertheless, Russia remains the largest market with approaching 800,000 units and a 40% share, followed by Poland on 23% and Ukraine on 12%. The same three countries also rank highest for bottled coolers and dispensers. Poland and Romania lead the point of use segment, holding a combined 69% share.
“Between 2011 and 2014, each segment had its top performers,” commented Zenith Market Analyst Iuliana Boda. “The greatest overall growth rate occurred in Romania on 58% and Latvia on 46%. The highest growth in bottled units was Latvia on 63%, whereas Russia saw the biggest jump in dispensers/pumps at 40% and Serbia registered the fastest increase in point of use at 200%.”
Zenith forecasts that the total market will accelerate to over 2.4 million units at the end of 2019. Unless there are radical changes in customer demand, point of use is expected to maintain its momentum towards a 10% share.
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