Bottled Water Surpassed Soda in Sales Last Year

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Bottled water first appeared in America in the 1700s as actually a spa product. People believed in the therapeutic powers of mineral water. Thus, they used the product to bathe in its pure liquid rather than consuming it. However, nowadays this product became a vital part of Americans’ lifestyle. Starting off as just a therapy asset, the pure water began to be distributed in stores in plastic or glass packages to the own benefit of clients. A new report revealed that Americans liked this product more in 2016 than soft drinks.

Beverage Marketing Corp. is an industry tracker that has just published a new report. The paper shows that after decades in which bottled water slowly gained popularity, its sales finally surpassed the sales of sodas by volume last year. The total volume of commercial water increased by approximately 9%. This means that according to the Beverage Marketing Corp. report, the product reached a 12.8 billion gallons.

As a comparison, in 2016 there were 39 gallons of bottled water per person while soda had a lower accessibility of 38.5 gallons. Back days, soft drinks were consumed by a person per year in 50 gallons on average in the late 1990s and at the beginning of the 2000s.

The report identified the increased awareness of sugar consumption as the main agent that turned the beverage trend upside down. Moreover, Americans have also changed their taste in drinks. The CEO of Beverage Marketing Corporation, Michael C. Bellas, stated that back days people couldn’t see themselves as big bottled water consumers. When the deluxe product Perrier entered the United States in the 1970s, few people entrusted in the future of this young market. However, nowadays it has begun to be normal for Americans to bring with them a bottle of water wherever they go. This scene would have been odd when sodas ruled the industry.

Moreover, experts believe that this is just the beginning. Bottled water will continue to increase its influence. As a consequence, many beverage companies are turning to this market to save their recently decreased revenues. Such is the case for even the kings of soft drinks, namely Coca-Cola and PepsiCo. The latter has even invested big in an ad during Super Bowl. The company didn’t go with its popular soda anymore but chose instead to raise awareness about its new brand of premium bottled water called LIFEWTR.

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