Bottled Water in Switzerland

PROSPECTS

Bottled water continues to benefit from the health and wellness trend

Bottled water has been the main beneficiary of the war against sugar in carbonates and juices. The category’s sales are being driven by consumers’ efforts to reduce their consumption of beverages with a high sugar content, with bottled water benefiting from both its healthy image and affordability.

New launches increasingly seen in flavoured water

The growth of flavoured bottled water in 2018 was supported by the warm summer weather in Switzerland as well as the ongoing shift away from carbonates. The category also benefited from a number of new launches.

Moving beyond hydration with functional water

Demand for functionality continued to be a driver of innovation in soft drinks in 2018. However, this area of focus was stronger in other categories than bottled water.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Nestlé Waters maintains its leading position

Nestlé Waters maintained its leading position in bottled water in 2018, benefiting from a strong brand image, significant consumer loyalty and the wide availability of its products across various distribution channels. The company’s leading brands - Cristalp, Vittel, Henniez and Contrex - recorded steady value sales in still natural mineral water in 2018 but failed to overtake the leading brand Evian, owned by Danone.

Saving the environment

A barrier to growth in the bottled water category is the lack of transparency with regard to environmental sustainability. Consumers are demanding more engagement from brands and want to see efforts to reduce plastic waste.

Competition from tap water

While bottled water is expected to continue to record slow but steady volume growth in the off-trade over the forecast period, it will face intense pressure from the high quality tap water available in Switzerland. With the rise of tap water fountains across cities and a trend towards purchasing reusable aluminium or glass bottles for consumers to fill at home, bottled water sales will eventually plateau, with prices expected to slowly fall in the future.

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