Bottled Water in Croatia

PROSPECTS

Public scepticism about the purpose of bottled water and concern about plastic packaging have potential to negatively impact the category

Croatia’s high level of tap water quality still represents the main hurdle to growth of sales in bottled water. Moreover, while the country’s tap water quality may not necessarily increase, the local population’s awareness is certainly increasing, and public displays of scepticism questioning the purpose of consuming bottled water, in addition to the current anti-plastic campaign, is a threat to future sales.

Increased tourist traffic boosts growth of bottled water, especially during summer

In the meantime, sales of bottled water are growing against some considerable odds, even in volume; volume growth increased in both carbonated and still bottled water in 2019 and value growth of carbonated water also increased over growth seen in the previous year. One growth driver has been the increasing inflow of tourists, not all of whom are informed about the quality of the country’s tap water alternative or are outraged by the high prices of on-trade alcoholic/non-alcoholic beverages sold in the country during the summer.

Carbonated bottled water more highly demanded, as when solely seeking hydration most consumers choose tap water over still water

Carbonated water is the bigger format because a large chunk of potential still water buyers opts to drink tap water rather than still water when seeking mere hydration. Moreover, carbonated bottled water is historically the “original” type of bottled water in the country, and has long been available.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

In a category where size matters the most, Jamnica continues to rule

In the very consolidated category of bottled water, size matters the most, as it reduces the cost of distribution per unit. Because of this, only the largest players can count on thriving.

Despite low price remaining important, private label and economy brands fare poorly

Leading brands in bottled water direct most of their efforts towards enabling their products to be sold for the cheapest price possible, as this is a category where buyers scrutinise price the most. Still, it is interesting to see private label or economy brands perform poorly.

Players are testing waters with new functional/flavoured waters but these types of new launches are not expected to significantly impact the category

Despite demand for bottled water being very traditional and consumers being relatively novelty-averse, manufacturers are testing the market for possibilities to increase sales. Most of the new launches are either functional or flavoured waters, targeting consumers with active lifestyles, and predominantly female.

Files are delivered directly into your account within a few minutes of purchase.