Bottled Water’s Popularity Tells an Important—and Healthy—Story By Chris Hogan, former IBWA Vice President of Communications

As you’ve probably heard, bottled water is about to mark a historic milestone: according to Beverage Marketing Corporation (BMC), bottled water will overtake carbonated soft drinks as America’s largest beverage category, by volume, by early 2017. Consumption of bottled water increased by 7.8 percent in 2016, and bottled water sales were up an impressive 8.6 percent, now totaling $15.8 billion (wholesale). This isn’t a 30

BWR

WWW.BOTTLEDWATER.ORG

fluke. For decades, consumers have been increasing their bottled water consumption. Here’s some context: in 2005, every American was drinking, on average, 25.4 gallons of bottled water. However, by 2016, that figure had jumped to 39 gallons, an increase of 13.6 gallons. BMC predicts that demand for bottled water will remain strong in the coming years—and soft drink consumption will continue to wane.

This kind of cultural shift in consumer preference reflects a clear trend of consumers increasingly choosing healthy, convenient, zero-calorie bottled water as their on-the-go beverage.

Beverage of Choice This consumer shift isn’t really surprising. Most of what we drink today comes in a package, and a vast majority