ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) announced that preliminary data from the Beverage Marketing Corporation (BMC) reveals that bottled water will again post considerable increases in both sales and consumption for 2014, building on last year’s growth of 4.7 percent, according to a press release.
BMC Managing Director of Research Gary Hemphill presented information that points to bottled water’s growing share of the of the packaged beverage market during the IBWA Annual Business conference in Dallas, Texas, stated the release.
Bottled water sales for 2014 are expected to grow to $13 billion, an increase of 6.1 percent from 2013, continued the release.
BMC stated that over the past five years alone, bottled water has increased its “share of stomach” of the overall beverage market from 14.4 percent in 2009 to 17.8 percent in 2014, reported the release.
BMC also predicts that bottled water will be the number one packaged beverage sold in the U.S. by 2016, surpassing carbonated soft drinks, which currently holds the number one spot, noted the release.
“While other beverages struggle to gain or maintain market share, bottled water is expected to have a 7.4 percent increase in 2014 — that equates to 10.9 billion gallons,” said Hemphill. “Every segment of the bottled water industry is growing and we consider bottled water to be the most successful mass-market beverage category in the U.S.”
