Bottled Water Industry Prepares for a Global Water Fight

They said the bottled water industry was in trouble…

First, it was health and environmental issues, including what to do with the used plastic.

Then the global recession hit and people really started to bash the business. Everyone expected cash-strapped consumers to turn to the tap for their drinking needs.

Yet somehow, despite those reasonable predictions, bottled water became one of the food and drink industry's star performers.

Danone ADR, with its Evian brand, increased sales by 8.7% last quarter.

And Nestle ADR, its biggest competitor, saw a 7.8% boost.

In both cases, bottled water sales outpaced the larger company's sales by two percentage points. And for Nestle, with brands like Pure Life, such figures mark a sharp difference from the hits it took in 2008 and 2009.

Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), the world's third-biggest bottled water supplier with brands like Dasani, didn't break out segment sales. But it did flag water as one of its growth drivers.

Continue reading the article.