In a Year of Extremes, Water is Still the Essential Nutrient: The 2020 Global Water Drinks Awards

Not even a global pandemic can stop water from flowing. Due to Covid, the Global Water Drinks Awards and Congress, which was to be held live in Scotland in October 2020, went online for the first time in its near 20 year history. Formerly called the Global Bottled Water Awards, Zenith International, who run the Awards and Congress, decided to re-name it and take the necessary precautions to host it virtually. I have attended live conferences in past years and it’s an excellent opportunity to find out what is trending worldwide with packaged water, be that natural spring water, flavored waters or functional waters, of which the alkaline category is seeing tremendous global growth. Also showing strong performance are CBD, and collagen waters As the single most influential event for the global water drinks industry, the Congress typically attracts between 150 to 200 participants from all over the world, though more signed up for the virtual gathering. The event provides industry leaders, entrepreneurs, suppliers, customers and advisers with a complete overview of the water drinks market, current developments and what is trending. The theme for 2020 was “Beyond the Bottle,” reflecting a focus on innovation into water drinks, packaging, technology and broader business questions raised by the coronavirus pandemic. All five leading international producers gave presentations including Coca-Cola, Danone, Nestlé, Niagara Bottling, and PepsiCo. “We no longer talk about bottled water, since there are many packaging alternatives,” says Richard Hall, chairman of event organizers, Zenith Global, the food and drink experts. “There are also many product alternatives in added flavors and functions. And now companies are exploring opportunities beyond drink packaging in capsules and dispense,” he said. Hall also stated that global brand acquisitions in the water drinks sector more than doubled in 2020. Additionally, reflecting the growing packaged water landscape, the award categories (all listed below) have been expanded to accommodate current trends and market changes. These include CBD waters, social media initiatives and how its use helps promote a company’s water, and environmental and sustainability goals. For the awards, there were 160 entries across 16 categories from 27 countries. An award from this competition can not only help with distribution, but some past winners have seen an increase in sales of nearly 30%. Congratulations to the many winners listed below! Best Natural Still Water Concept Drinks – Pure Iceberg Lofoten Arctic Water – Lofoten Arctic Water Best Natural Sparkling Water Lofoten Arctic Water – Lofoten Arctic Water Best Flavored Water Flow Water Inc. – Flow Water Best Functional Water San Benedetto – San Benedetto SKINCARE Best CBD Water DrinkThreeDots – DrinkThreeDots Best New Brand/Brand Extension Flow Water Inc. – Flow Water Best New Water Concept Chicago Beverage LLC – ÈSSE Water LUQEL – LUQEL Water Station Excellence Best in Can Lofoten Arctic Water – Lofoten Arctic Water Best in Carton Drinks Cubed – Drinks Cubed The Happy Healthy Kids Co – WaWaah Water Best in Glass Jusqi – SPARKEAU Best in PET Kofola ČeskoSlovensko – Kláštorná Kalcia Best Packaging/Label Design Jusqi – SPARKEAU Best Cap/Closure Aptar Food + Beverage – Rocket : Next Generation Sport Cap Carpathian Springs – Aqua Carpatica Kids Best Technology Innovation LUQEL – LUQEL Water Station Excellence Best Marketing/Social Media Campaign Path – Pathwater Earth Day 2020 Best CSR Initiative Generation HOPE – HOPE IN A BOX

Where Can Water Go? The Promise of Future Bottled Water Offerings

An ever increasing number of value-added bottled waters are flooding the U.S. market. Beverage Marketing Corporation (BMC) has identified 11 sectors of the overall bottled water market. Everything from protein waters to floral waters and spice waters have entered the market in recent years with more water concepts to follow. These new products all offer either functional or health and wellness benefits. But is there a place for a dearth of water in an already crowded market?

“In aggregate, these upstart segments totaled more than $100 million wholesale sales in 2019 and grew by more than 30%, and they are poised to have healthy growth over the next four years, though some are likely to sputter,” BMC states in their report. Plant waters are the biggest of the bunch accounting for about two thirds of sales of these new segments. Most of the other segments are small - under $10 million wholesale. These new segments join traditional value added water segments: enhanced, flavored, essence and alkaline waters. In no particular order, here are the 11 sub-categories of hr bottled water market that will show growth:

Plant Waters (Excluding coconut water)

Protein Waters

Detox Waters

Fiber Water

Probiotic Waters

Wine Waters (Non-alcoholic)

Flower/Floral Waters

Spice (Herbal) Waters

Weight Management Waters/Keto Water

Collagen (Beauty) Waters

Rain Waters

In predicting future growth through 2023, BMC states that every category will make gains, but the weakest are predicted to be rain waters, and floral waters, showing growth in single digits, but growth nonetheless. The most promising? Wine water with projected growth of 38%, probiotic waters (26%) and fiber waters with growth of 34%.

“Beverage marketers seeking to enter the water category have found traditional bottled water nearly impenetrable because it is dominated by low cost offerings from established companies. They’ve opted to enter the less price sensitive value-added water segment that is seemingly ripe for innovation and segmentation,” BMC says. These new water brands and segments may vary but have a number of things in common: premium pricing, functional or wellness attributes, natural ingredients, and use of water as a platform for innovation. That so many new waters are coming on-line only shows there is nothing to stop creativity and market share for bottled water.