Page 30 - Food&Drink Magazine August 2019

BEVERAGE PRODUCTION
Water water everywhere
With water being the fastest growing beverage segment, product innovation is key for market share. Kim Berry looks at some of the latest research.
WATER is the fastest growing segment in the beverage market. Dive into those numbers and alkaline water is the fastest growing sub segment, with sparkling water providing stiff competition. Alkaline water has a high pH level, which claims to help reduce acidity in the body.
The sales vice president for Flow alkaline spring water Alina Kerry was in Australia earlier this year for the brand’s soft launch. Alina told Food & Drink Business the alkaline water market had grown 171 per cent in the last two years and was set to keep growing as consumers’ health and wellness ‘better for me’ mindset expanded.
Flavoured versions are also popular. For Flow that has seen the creation of: cucumber and mint;lemonandginger;
strawberry and rose; watermelon and lime; blackberry and hibiscus; and pink grapefruit and elderflower.
ADDING SOME SPARKLE
According to Market Watch, plain sparkling water still dominates the market but bottled water that contains minerals like potassium, sodium and magnesium are buoying the sparkling market.
Other major industry highlights are product innovation — success breeds success as it were, and convenient and attractive packaging.
While in Australia for the Naturally Good Expo, US food consultant Bob Burke told Food & Drink Business that the sparkling water market was “exploding”. There is lots of innovation and new offerings fromlegacybrands,hesays.
Again, this ties into the growth of health and wellness and consumers steering away from anything artificial or synthetic. A recent Nielson study says it is about the appeal of low carbohydrate, low calorie and low guilt beverage. Brands like the Spindrift tap into that market, offering sparkling water mixed with squeezed fresh juice. Its three-year growth is 1119 per cent.
Canned offerings are out-performing bottled varieties, even though bottled versions command 64 per cent of sales, Nielson says. Canned sales in 2018 increased by 43 per cent on 2017 with sales worth $803 million while bottle varieties were up 11 per cent in the same period. Canned sparkling water is driving the category’s profits, Nielson says.
Alcohol-infused sparkling waterhasalsotakenoff.
Neilson found in the first six months of this year, Americans spent US$389 million on hard seltzer (alcoholic sparkling water), an increase of 210 per cent from 2018. Alcoholic sparkling water now represents 10 per cent of all flavoured malt beverage sales in the US.
In July, CBD-infused sparkling water brand Sweet Reason raised US$2.5million to help increase branding and expand its sales team. Its products have carbonated water, natural flavours and CBD, claiming its technology enhances how well the hemp extract is absorbed.
Market Watch says the sparkling water market in the Asia Pacific is expected to grow rapidly due to increased awareness, changing lifestyles and increased demand for healthierbeveragechoices. ✷
30 | Food&Drink business | August 2019 | www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au