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Ethical brands, which provide a portion of sales or profits to alleviate water shortages in the developing world, more than doubled their volumes in 2007, according to the 17th annual UK Bottled Water report from Zenith International.
Final flood relief figures show that bottled water companies also provided a total of 55 million litres to assist households affected by lack of access to clean water during last year's soaking summer.
Always an important factor, the effect of poor weather on overall consumption was especially severe in 2007. Record summer rainfall caused the UK market to fall by 4% in both volume and value to 2,185 million litres, and £1,590 million at retail prices. Consumption per person reached 36.0 litres last year, compared with 29.6 litres five years ago.
"Despite such a disappointing summer, the role of bottled water in emergency situations and the surge in ethical waters highlighted new areas of consumer resonance," said Zenith Market Intelligence Director Gary Roethenbaugh.
Sales of water in retail sizes saw a smaller decline than the total market in 2007, falling by 3.3% to 1,785 million litres. A maturing UK water cooler sector slipped back further in 2007, dropping by 30 million litres. Including volume through water coolers, still water claimed an overall 86.8% share. Sparkling water held up better, with a 2.4% volume decline. The share of spring water rose to 26.0% in 2007 after reclassification by the Highland Spring brand.
World market leaders Danone and Nestlé saw their combined share of UK consumption dip to 28% following Danone's divestment of Eden Springs. Princes Soft Drinks, Highland Spring and Greencore Mineral Water held their positions as the next three largest operators. The top five groups accounted for 56.8% of total volume in 2007.
"Despite increasing beverage choices, bottled water has retained particular popularity in school lunchboxes, on the dinner table, at the gym and for hydration on the go," Gary Roethenbaugh continued. "Bottled water’s purity and zero calorie virtues should continue to drive the market forward."
UK bottled water consumption remains well behind the West European annual average of 110 litres per person. Zenith projects 3% to 4% annual growth in the coming years, pushing UK sales to 2.6 billion litres in 2012.