Enhanced Water: Significant opportunities are arising in the segment

Some major new trends are sweeping through the beverage industry and they are having a major impact on both manufacturers and consumers. For the soft drinks industry sugar has now become a dirty word and sugar taxes have forced companies to create new formulas and diversify away from carbonates as that segment begins to decline. For the enhanced water segment new opportunities are developing as consumers are moving towards bottled water and away from sugar and this means a great deal of innovation is happening with new enhanced water healthy ingredients. For the hot drinks industry convenience and premiumization is changing the landscape and new types of on the go products are becoming the main consumer choice. Packaging up these products is becoming a major headache for beverage manufacturers however, as environmental challenges and consumer behaviors are forcing companies to look for new solutions to old problems.

Key Highlights

– The enhanced water segment covers a wide variety of products with the main theme being low sugar drinks with the main constituent being water. The focus of this segment is primarily on sports nutrition and health-focused water products, lacing traditional water products with additional ingredients such as electrolytes or vitamins to enhance the nutritional capacity of the product. However, manufacturers are feeling very free to develop all manner of new product varieties within this segment and there is good innovation. Varieties include: vitamin water, coconut water, electrolyte water, sleep inducing water, caffeinated water, artificially sweetened water, workout water, black water, and life water.

– Since 2015, bottled water has become the new most popular product in the soft drink industry according to GlobalData research. Overtaking traditional carbonated drinks like popular varieties of soda, sports drinks and flavored water, bottled water is the new leading product in the sector. This is an interesting phenomenon, because traditional unflavored or uncarbonated water requires fewer ingredients and significantly less processing than the alternatives, meaning customers are choosing a product which is on the whole easier for manufacturers to make and in fact wastes less water during its manufacturing process.

– The dangers and long-term effects of consuming too much sugar are now broadly recognized by most consumers and many are either reducing their consumption of traditional soft drinks, or entirely switching to new drinks options. The strength of the water segment is growing in many regions, in particular Europe and North America. In the USA bottled water is now the number one selling drink of any kind. Enhanced water has spawned as a segment through two strong trends, the decline of the traditional high sugar sports drink and the booming in the traditional water segment. Essentially innovators in the industry have been pushing to produce low calorie replacements that have additional benefits to that of just plain water.

Scope

– Examine the major trends in the drinks and beverage industry and what companies are doing to exploit them

– See why the latest sugar coverage is having such a big effect on the industry

– Explore the reasons behind the rise of bottled water and the new opportunities in that segment

– Examine the problems the industry faces with packaging

Reasons to buy

- What are the key changes happening in the non alcoholic drinks industry?

- What players are making significant new moves in the industry?

- Are there any opportunities arising out of major industry trends?

- What new products are starting to gain traction with consumers?

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