COMMUNICATIONS than they were at this time a year ago.” This new information shows that even when consumers treat themselves to (often less-healthy) meals at restaurants they are not ordering soda nearly as frequently. Ferdman notes that water, and bottled water, may be the main beneficiaries of this cultural change. A New York Times article also confirms that sales of bottled water have shot up, while sodas sales are stagnating as more Americans actively try to avoid soft drinks (“The Decline of ‘Big Soda,’” nyti.ms/1Uph7XJ). That insight concurs with BMC data showing every American drank, on average, 36.5 gallons of bottled water in 2015—an increase of 11 gallons over the amount Americans consumed in 2004. Comparably, per capita consumption of soft drinks dropped by 12.5 gallons during that same time frame. (In addition, BMC reports that the soft drink category
underwent its eleventh consecutive year of volume reductions in 2015.)
Dark Underbelly of Success However, there’s another side to this story that we must remember. As more and more Americans drink bottled water, helping it make marketplace gains, we will become an even bigger target for our critics. Our adversaries continue their attacks on the healthiest packaged beverage on the shelf, with false claims about their environmental impacts. However, those claims are continuously proven false and misleading—revelations our consumers have noticed. Still, in 2016 we’ve seen coordinated and well-executed campaigns opposing bottled water plants in Oregon and Connecticut—even as the delivery of vitally needed bottled water was celebrated in the beleaguered city
of Flint, Michigan, which has lead contaminated tap water. The landmark shift we expect to see moving into 2017, as the popularity of bottled water displaces that of soft drinks, will usher in a new era of scrutiny. As an industry, we need to work together to educate consumers, the media, and legislators about the truth about bottled water. It is up to us to better communicate the strong, positive, and accurate story of bottled water and all the work, commitment, and environmental stewardship that goes into our companies and products. With any good marketing or political campaign, it’s a local and a personal effort. If we are not proactively and transparently telling our story to the people, media, legislators, and regulators who directly impact our companies at the state and local levels, then our opponents will gladly do it for us.
JUL/AUG 2016
BWR
55