Bottled water may soon become the number one beverage by volume in the U.S.
A recent report from Beverage Marketing Corp. (BMC) has revealed that bottled water continues to record impressive growth in volume and per capita consumption. According to the report, bottled water, which is ranked as the number-two beverage type by volume, may soon surpass carbonated soft drinks to take the number-one spot.
Charting a second year in a row of quickening growth, U.S. bottled water volume grew by nearly 8% to reach an historical high of nearly 12 billion gallons in 2015. Wholesale dollar sales also accelerated and exceeded $14.2 billion in 2015. Per capita consumption reached a new peak of 36.5 gallons, as documented in U.S. Bottled Water through 2020, Beverage Marketing Corporation’s most recent report on the market.
Domestic non-sparkling water perennially reigns as the biggest segment of the U.S. packaged water industry, representing more than 95% of total volume in 2015.
Throughout most of the 1990s and 2000s, the retail premium segment – consisting of still water in single-serve polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles – drove the overall category’s development. In 2015, the PET segment advanced by 8.9%, BMC’s report showed.
Two segments outside the domestic non-sparkling realm posted dramatic growth in 2015. In 2014, imports notched their first double-digit growth rate since 2007, and another in 2015. Sparkling water held the smallest share of bottled water volume but grew at a rate faster than any other type in 2015.