Bottled water to overtake fizzy soda as world's most popular drink
People are partly reaching for bottled water because of obesity concerns
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.As healthy lifestyles favouring a trip to the gym over a fast food joint become more fashionable, water is set to become the world’s favourite packaged drink.
Bottled water will likely overtake fizzy drinks this year, as over 233 billion litres of the stuff is expected to fly off shelves around the world compared with 227 billion litres of soda.
Just five years ago, only 170 billion litres of packaged water was drunk in comparison to 215 billion litres of pop.
According to research by the Canadean market research group, emerging economies will drive the trend, as consumption in India, China, and Brazil is up around 10 per cent.
The 50 best foods for healthy living
Three in every four British men will be overweight by 2030
The foods with high amounts of hidden sugar
Glass of red wine a night could help people with diabetes
What happened when 20 Americans swapped diets with 20 Africans?
Fiona Baillie, an analyst at market research group Canadean which came up with the figures, explained: “With nearly one-third of the world’s population residing in these countries the impact is significant. Packaged water is often necessary in areas susceptible to flooding or other natural occurrences, as these often lead to water contamination and the spread of diseases.”
A combination of higher temperatures and poor piped infrastructure contributes to this, as it becomes the norm for commuters to carry bottled water with them each day.
This is in contrast to a 1 per cent spike in popularity in Germany, Italy, France and Spain forecast for this year. Bucking the western trend is the US, which will remain the second foremost consumer of bottled water, as people become more health conscious.
Marco Settembri, chief executive of waters at Nestlé, which sells Perrier-Vittel, told the Financial Times: “There is a huge growth in the water category in the US, driven by concerns about health and obesity.”
The figures come as 2014 marked a decade since the consumption of soft drinks in the US started to decline, falling by 14 per cent, according to Beverage Digest.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments