Bottled Water in Slovakia

2020 IMPACT

Increased volume sales in retail brings about strong current value growth

Although social distancing helped bottled water volume sales in March 2020, the current value boost received from consumer stockpiling started to fade during April. This, combined with a spell of cold weather in May and June, left retail volume sales in an even worse position than they had been during the first half of 2019.

Leading companies continue to make changes to their bottled water portfolios

In April 2020 the major bottled water player Kofola acquired the Czech mineral water brands Karlovarska Konrunni and Ondrasovka. This was a further change to the competitive environment, after Karlovarske Mineralni Vody was rebranded as Mattoni in 2019, after which it acquired the Slovak Pepsi business and sold off its Toma bottled water brand to Coca Cola.

Klástorna Kalcia capitalises on demand for calcium-rich mineral water

Mineral bottled water continued to perform well in 2020, water containing calcium stayed in demand among consumers. The Klástorna Kalcia brand was launched in Slovakia in 2019 and gained further market share in 2020, also expanding into the neighbouring Czech Republic.

RECOVERY AND OPPORTUNITIES

Baby waters to gain share

Baby waters (classified by Euromonitor International as other baby food) continue to perform well, and are likely to continue to take consumers from other types of bottled water for the duration of the forecast period. These brands are affordable and enjoy good levels of recognition among Slovak families with children.

Competition from flavoured non-alcoholic beer and energy drinks to increase

Flavoured bottled water is expected to continue to suffer from competition with flavoured non-alcoholic beers, such as Birell, which benefits from greater and more effective marketing. This affects volume and current value growth in both the off-trade and on-trade, but harms on-trade sales to a larger extent.

The wake of the COVID-19 pandemic to bring about changes in the bottled water supply chain

As the retail environment gradually returns to normal in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, a portion of retail sales volumes in 2021 is expected to go back to the on-trade. This return of consumers to the on-trade will serve to prevent bottled water from posting significant growth in the off-trade for the duration of the forecast period.