Bottled water sales slagging
August 24, 2009 by Tom GuayPosted in: Latest News & Views, News
All the negative vibe attached to bottled water of late has taken its toll on the beverage industry.
Consumer advocates, environmentalists and other health groups are making much of a Nestlé’s report that its profits in bottled water sales declined 4.7% in the first six months of this year. Nestlé markets several bottled water brands, including Poland Spring, Deer Park, S. Pellegrino and Perrier.
Nestlé’s still making money, but its overall net profit slipped 2.7 % for the first time in six years.
Nestlé’s bottled water was the big loser as sales fell on lower demand in Western Europe and North America.
Over the years, consumer groups have pounced on bottled water as a sham, yet highly successful, marketing gimmick. Consumer groups have pointed out that bottled water is frequently just rebottled tap water. Some groups have also noted that tap water safety is regulated while bottled water is not.
Others have claimed that bottled water is not an eco-friendly product because it takes more water to create a bottle of packaged water than the bottle contains. Then there’s the problem of what to do with all those used plastic water bottles.
The Washington Post reports that the Nestlé bottled-water slide could bode ill for the rest of the beverage industry. Bottled water is a long way now from its peak when sales jumped to $5.1 billion in 2008. The Post also reports that Coca-Cola is blaming waning consumer demand for its weakening bottled water sales. Click here for the Post story.
The Europeans are making much of Nestlé’s bottled water woes as well. A UK story is here.
The sales drop is buried in Nestlé’s press release — click here.
Tags: bottled water, Coca-Cola, Nestle
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August 25th, 2009 at 7:08 am
Hooray! My how we love our little conveniences. Practically everyone I know has a case or two in the pantry or garage. But just like Tom says:”It’s not an eco-friendly product.”
It has come to this. Once again it’s time to pull the ol’ wallet and start casting votes.
People are surrounded by overpackaged goods and bring them home without thought. And, all that stuff we toss in the garbage can? We paid for it. We paid for it and brought it home just to send it to a landfill.
So, next trip to the grocer’s, pay attention to the packaging on the products you’d normally purchase, and search around and see how you could take less trash home from the store. And yes, this includes those pesky water bottles.
I hope you all have a wonderful day!
August 27th, 2009 at 11:49 am
I’ve always considered bottled water a scam. Why pay for it if I can get it for “free” from the tap? I figured that it was just the convenience to be able to carry the water with you. I first started wondering about the plastic waste several years ago. I surf, when possible, and there is a surf spot across the ship channel in Port Aransas, TX on an uninhabited island called St. Joseph. It seems that every plastic bottle of every shape and size collects right in the corner of the rock jetty over there and I’m not kidding, I’ve seen the bottles stacked up to waist high and spread out over several acres of land over there. It’s a sad site to see. From that point on, i decided to never buy bottled water. But on the other hand, I still buy plastic bottled sodas every now and then if the store doesn’t have cold aluminum cans. At least I can recycle the aluminum cans. We need to find a cost efficient way of recycling all this plastic that just ends up in the street, on the beach, and in the landfills. I, for one, am glad that plastic water bottle sales are down, it shows that we are aware of the problem and hopefully working together to rid us of this plastic scam.
August 27th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
It took a long time after I got out of college to actually buy water, given that I could get it for free out of the tap. Now that times are tough, guess what’s the first thing to go — you guessed it, bottled water!
August 27th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
I recycle whatever the county will pick up from my driveway, even recyclable trash that I find thrown in the road on my 3-mile jog around my neighborhood! And the only water I buy is what is charged me by Polk County Water Utilities!
August 27th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
I’m in Chicago and we have great tasting water. None of the aftertaste I find in some other parts of the country. I’ve been filling my Sigg bottle for a couple of years (& the dents show how old it is). I’ve been trying to convince my employer to ditch the bottled water we have for our employees and let folks refill their own bottles from the filtered water cooler we already have. My bottle says it all… “Make Love not Landfill”.
September 3rd, 2009 at 10:36 am
In my previous job, I traveled extensively. Believe it or not, I had digestive problems drinking the tap water when I visited other states. I started buying bottled water when I was out of town to prevent getting sick. Sure, the plastic is a problem, but if they can figure out how to package it eco friendly I’m sure their sales could pick up again. I was not the only traveler that preferred bottled water while on the road.
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:54 pm
The headline, “Bottled Water Sales Sagging,” could be applied to ANYTHING in the past year and a half. What product has reported improved sales over that time period?
This is another eco-whacko attack on free enterprise. Sure, bottled water is a convenience – but so are a million other things we use daily. The water companies filled a niche when the food police called for everyone to drink water instead of sodas, now they are complaining because of the results of their success.
Isn’t it strange that anything that becomes successful – some entity will attempt to ruin its success in the guise of health, or ecology, or some other measure which generally is an anti-capitalism, anti-free enterprise facade. Think about it.
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:45 pm
There is a choice – Eco Water. It is not in plastic bottles, but made from recycled paper. Tastes good and is no more expensive than the plastic bottles, and far more earth friendly.
September 3rd, 2009 at 4:11 pm
Here is a little story: A long time ago my parent had a fruit farm near a highway in the Southwest. There was a wonderful fresh water spring and wellhouse close to the road. My parents welcomed travelers who stopped to fill their canteens and radiators from the well, before crossing the desert. It was the neighbor-ly thing to do.
The farm was driving my parents bankrupt, so they sold out and moved to the big city to pursue other careers. Mom was an artist, dad a civil engineer.
Guess who owns that farm now? Yup, a large semi-famous water bottling company. Big trucks pull out of there every day taking the previously free water to market. I use a home filteration system for my bottled water.
September 10th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
Not only is it not eco frendly there is the fact that some of the harmful chemicals from the plastic containers are leached into the water when the bottle is reused or gets warm. How many of these bottles are kept cool from bottling to consumption??? NONE!! Who do you trust the water peddlers?
Good ruck shaggy!!!
September 10th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
Over the past several years how many people have gotten sick from bottled water? NONE! In the same period, how many have gotten sick from municipal water company failures or contaminations? Thousands – and that’s not counting Mexico. I’m not a big fan of bottled water but it is a convenience (and a success story). It’s just being villified by the enviro-whackos and anti-capitalists.
September 10th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
Sorry LEU, but you don’t know that. You are just spouting off as usual.
September 10th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
L (stands for Lazy) Sue: Show me your facts which dispute my comments.
September 10th, 2009 at 11:14 pm
Let’s not forget, our Emergency water for Earthquake preparedness.
September 11th, 2009 at 9:49 am
It just goes to show you. You can’t believe everything you read or hear on the news or anywhere else that matters. Just last week the radio station I listen to stated that with all the down economy and all the only thing that people were not giving up was their bottled water. According to your article though you state that bottled water sales are down. Both stories can not be true since they contradict each other.
September 14th, 2009 at 11:44 am
I live in Southern Texas and the tap water here tasts disgusting. I currently get my water from the watermill. I refill my 5 gal containers that I use with a water cooler at home. I never drink tap water. I love to purchase the indivdual 33.8 oz waterbottles and reuse those in case I need to take it on the go. I would love to help the environment, but haven’t seen any eco-friendly waterbottles here.
September 24th, 2009 at 6:11 am
[...] on tough times due to a combination of the recession and a growing, pro-tap water movement. Click here for [...]
October 8th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
Bottled water is the biggest scam I have ever seen. My husband is a water distribution manager and people are so uneducated on water. The companies that make profit are making profit on people who don’t understand how water works. This is like selling shampoo to a bald man…
December 25th, 2009 at 11:48 pm
All this talk of banning, why isn’t anyone saying why these bottles are being littered all over the world, how about prosecuting litter bugs. I recycle plastic, glass and cans and what ever I can recycle. Plastic bottles from what I know can be recycled. We all could do a lot better, but lets not but thousands of people out of work just yet.