The combined forces of the economic downturn and environmental pressures are causing a sharp slowdown in the global bottled water market, according to a recent analysis by global beverage industry specialists, Canadean.
The situation is most marked in the USA, where Canadean is forecasting annual growth of under 1% for the next five years. This is a significant deceleration from the double-digit rates seen from 2000 to 2008, and has major implications for the PET plastics industry, in particular.
High profile tap water campaigns across many US states, and bottled water bans by public institutions have resulted in consumers reverting to tap and filtered water. This is being mirrored in some major European markets such as France and the UK, with the economic conditions reinforcing this trend.
On a broader note, the prognosis for global commercial beverage consumption is relatively healthy. Beverage demand is forecast to weather the economic storm, growing by 2.0% in 2009 and 2.6% per annum in the longer term. The more buoyant categories include still drinks, nectars (juice drinks) as well as bulk and bottled water, where growth in countries such as China, India and Indonesia will compensate for the stagnation in western economies. After a near flat performance in 2009, carbonates are expected to return to a growth rate of 2% annually. Those companies with strong international exposure will benefit from rising demand in Asia to offset the tougher markets in North America and Europe.
Source: Packagingeurope
