Marketing Analysis : International Bottled Water Industry

Bottled water consumption and sales have been increasing exponentially since its emergence as a widely-accepted commercial beverage category. The bottled water industry is now growing at 8% to 10% annually – about twice as fast as other beverages. In fact, in 2003 bottled water became the second largest commercial beverage category by volume in the United States, surpassing milk, coffee, beer, and is now second only to carbonated soft drinks.

In fact 22% of test water bottle brands had chemical contaminants higher than the state limit (ABC, 1). So why do Americans think bottled water is so great? Maybe it’s because of how much companies advertise the product, advertising expenses for bottled water totaled $61 million in 2012 ("International Bottled Water Association" 1). Whatever the reason may be, bottled water is the second most popular beverage in the U.S.A., and more and more bottles of water are being produced and distributed this very second.

Over the past decade, the Healthy Spring Water Company’s sales grew rapidly due to increasing concerns about water quality. In recent years, however, the company’s sales have been stagnant. The problem is that the market for spring water grew large enough that grocery stores began to carry it, at prices somewhat below those of Healthy Spring. Consequently, the grocery stores are enjoying most of the benefit of continued growth in this market.

The water bottle industry as made a positive impact on America’s economy. Americans have experienced the economic strain in the job market over the past several years with layoffs and a lack in the number of jobs available. This industry not only supplies us with a convenient, healthier beverage option, but also provides jobs for the American worker. Based on analysis

I selected “Schnucks Purified Drinking Water” as the low cost example. It is the store brand, and costs about $ 2.88. The water is packaged in plastic water bottles, and comes 24 bottles to a package (containing 16.9 FL OZ per bottle). Then it is encased in plastic wrapping, and placed closest to the floor. This brand is the cheapest because it is purified water versus like spring water. Many times people view spring water as more natural, and therefore it’s more expensive. The main reason behind this brand being the cheapest is because it is the store brand. Typically, people who buy “Schnucks Purified Drinking

Drinking water, as a commercial product, its price ranks secondly important. Usually, consumers will compare the price accessible in marketplace when purchasing a product. Mount Franklin’s prices vary from store to store. In CCA vending machines the price for a 600mL bottle is $3.00, which comparably higher.

In this clever, perspective broadening work of narrative journalism Elizabeth Royte she poses a whirlwind of thought provoking questions. Who really has the right to any of the water? What happens when a corporate bottling company preys on an unfavorable source? Should we have to pay for water when it is a natural resource that is worldwide? Is the stuff coming from the tap completely safe? How many chemicals are dumped in to make it “clean”

Tap water is extremely cheaper than bottled water is. According to Livingston, tap water costs only $2.00 every thousand gallons, whereas the cost per gallon of bottled water is $1.21. "That means, priced by gallon, bottled water is more than 600 times more expensive than tap water" (Livingston). Buying a bottled water may be cheaper at the time, however, that $1.00 or so adds up. When people buy bottled water, it is often the same as tap, just that’s been filtered or purified (Livington). So, why spend money on bottled water when it's rather identical to tap, with no

Little less than half a million people work for bottled water companies in the U.S. According to ‘‘IBWA’’ “approximately 471,700 Americans were employed for bottled water companies in 2013.” That’s just the workers not including the drivers. Just think of all those people that would lose their job.

11). Also, for the most part, bottled water is basically packaged tap water: “Much of the bottled water for sale comes from municipal taps (40 percent in the U.S.)” (Natural Life, 2007, p. 10). Essentially, consumers are paying 2,000 times more for bottled water than the price for water that could easily be poured from the kitchen faucet. The amount of oil that is consumed for shipment and production of plastic bottles is the main reason why the price of bottled water is marked up so high. In addition to paying higher costs for bottled water, consumers’ tax dollars are responsible for paying to recycle the bottles. “More than four billion pounds of plastic water bottles go into landfills each year. This costs $70 million of taxpayers money each year in the United States alone” (Adeland, 2011, p. 230). The bottled water industry has made their products readily available and more convenient making it is easier to purchase a bottle of water than it is to pour a glass of water from a tap. This results in a high demand for the product and, therefore, costs to manufacture, ship, and purchase bottled water are extreme.

Meanwhile people end up, "spending more per gallon than you would for gasoline." (Lisa Ledwidge Source C). The cost of water from tap to bottled is multiplied by at least 1000 times. You end up saving a lot of money by choosing the healtheir and more practical option. Yet there are a few better and flavorful reasons that bottled water is greatly

Refillable water bottles may seem expensive, but in the long run it will be much cheaper. “On average, Americans spend about $5 a week on bottled water, this means you can save $260 per year by switching to a reusable water bottle” (Speer par. 5). This statistic shows just how much the average American (the world wide statistic was not available) can save yearly, let alone in a lifetime. This statistic also does not include the average money a year a person spends on soda pop, tea, coffee, or other drinks that could be put into the refillable bottle if they are bought in bulk. Many people say they do not have money to buy a nice refillable water bottle, but most people do have the money it would take to buy an eight dollar Contigo refillable bottle from Walmart that would do the job. Up to one fifth of Americans have tap water that is not drinkable (Karp par. 1). However, there are refillable water bottles with filters. Refillable water bottles with filters may be more expensive, but it is easy to find a cheap one at Walmart. For example someone could buy a ten dollar Brita filter water bottle. Investing in a refillable bottle will already save someone money after one month of use.

Think about how often you drink water, clean water that is. Do you deserve it? This may seem like an obvious answer to tell yourself: “Yes, of course I do”, but this is a question that is being brought up. There are many companies that sell bottled water, and some of them believe that clean water is not a human right, and it deserves to be sold at a price. Other issues arise under this same question, too. Such as what about the people who live in undeveloped countries who do not have access to clean water, and should they? Other issues include global warming and the potential limiting of clean water in the future, or water being compared to other things that the human race need to survive. These two sides have very opposing ideas.

There are basically three ways that water is privatized; bottled water, municipal services and bulk water sales. As a consumer of bottled water I wanted to research further and find out the truth about it. What I discovered was that we as consumers have been fooled by these water corporations. To begin with the cost of bottled water is two thousand times more than tap water. I found it absolutely ludicrous that we are willing to pay such a high price for bottled water considering it costs close to nothing to drink water from the tap. In reality, as I found out, most bottled water which we believe comes from some exotic spring is actually filtered tap water from a U.S. city. According to Food & Water Watch one third of all bottled water comes from a public water source. #4

Water can not be banned, so filling stations and reusable water bottles will have to replace them. One reason people think tap water is better than bottled water is because they think bottled water is expensive. A reusable water bottle is more hassle, more expensive, and they get moldy and don’t last. So then, what is the point of calling inexpensive