Poles drink less water than other Europeans

In the period June 2009 – May 2010, Poles drank 2.3bn litres of bottled water, which cost PLN 2.4bn – almost totalling PLN 150m more than in the summer 2008/2009. However, the water market in Poland is slowly becoming saturated, shows a report by ACNielsen.

Bottled water makes up 41.1% of the soft drinks market in Poland and is the second biggest after fizzy drinks, whose turnover in 2009 amounted to more than PLN 2.5bn.

Danone, which owns ?ywiec Zdrój, is the most successful bottled water producer in Poland, holding a 33.6% share in the Polish water market. Next follows Nestlé Waters, which produces Na??czowianka and Dar Natury, and Coca-Cola Hellenic, which has recently conquered the Polish market with Kropla Beskidu.

Although the sale of bottled water in Poland is constantly on the rise (in 2009, it increased by 9.1%), the consumption of bottled water in Poland is still low in comparison with other EU countries. Poland comes only 14th in the European ranking of water consumption. An average Pole drinks 66 litres of water a year, while in Italy that number amounts to 197 litres.

Source: TheNews.pl, money.pl