This news comes as it releases its West Europe water cooler report, a few weeks after its East Europe report.
The whole story will feature in the next issue of Cooler Plus magazine.
This five million prediction comes at a time when the industry is generally better organised and more focused on profit than in the past. When we used to run ‘numbers’ stories in Cooler Plus’ forerunner H20 Europe, the industry often seemed more obsessed with adding to its cooler park than improving its bottom line. Things have changed and I wonder what the Zenith reports will look like by the time we reach the magic number in 2018.
Will they have to reflect the growing importance of coffee or the relentless advance of vending? What impact will ‘make your own’ drinks from the likes of SodaStream, or the yet-to-be-revealed advent of the Keurig Green Mountain/Coca-Cola partnership have? Will it slow the growth in the residential sector, essential to broaden the opportunity out of Europe’s traditional ‘office’ rather than ‘home and office’ position?
Will yet-to-be-invented technologies change the course? – and in the meantime, will existing new technologies be adopted quickly enough? Will coolers take their cue from vending and look to become more interactive? Many of these themes will be looked at in detail at the WaterCoolers Europe Conference and Trade Fair in Budapest from 7-9 October.
And talking of Budapest, Zenith International’s 11th Global Bottled Water Congress is taking place at the InterContinental Hotel from the 6-8 October 2014, immediately before the Watercoolers Europe conference and trade fair at the same venue.
The Congress includes a half-day of dedicated market workshops taking place on the afternoon of Monday 6 October. This comprises six market briefings, including flavoured and functional waters, water enhancers, water coolers, innovation and crowdsourcing.
“What better way could there be to spend a half-day than on gaining updates and insights on the international bottled water market, including cooler market developments, innovation and new marketing techniques,” said Zenith International chairman, Richard Hall.
FoodBev Media has negotiated a special 50% discount for water cooler bottlers and distributors who are readers or subscribers of Cooler Plus for the workshops on Monday 6 October. The current ‘early bird’ rate is €650 plus VAT for the six workshops (so this offer reduces the price to €325 plus VAT). The rate rises to €700 plus VAT from 5 September (so discounted, the offer will be €350 plus VAT).
To qualify for the discount, go to http://www.zenithinternational.com/events/ to download a booking form. Send your completed form here stating ‘Discount Code CP14’ at the top of the form.
There are many, many benefits for subscribing to Cooler Plus magazine. It’s good to be able to add one more, so tell your colleagues to visit FoodBev.com and click on ‘Magazines’ now.
I’m speaking at both the events in Budapest, so I look forward to seeing you there!
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