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Still water outsells cola
Last updated at 10:28am on 07.03.07
Bottled water now outsells cola in London
Bottled mineral water is outselling cola in London for the first time.
Health-conscious consumers favour water and juices rather than fizzy drinks.
Research by Britvic found pure juice, "sports" drinks and "smoothies" have shown the fastest percentage growth with sales of water up 11 per cent.
Britvic chief executive and vice president of the British Soft Drinks Association, Paul Moody, said: "The face of the soft drinks market is rapidly changing as evolving consumer tastes and preferences ensure that innovation always remains at the heart of industry.
"In fact, research tells us that almost two out of three people have changed the drinks they buy to be more healthy and this has resulted in the well-being soft drinks category emerging as one of the most important."
The soft drink "of the future" might look and taste very different to the options today if the speed and scale of changes since 2001 continue, Mr Moody predicted.
Smoothies showed the fastest percentage growth for shop sales increasing their value by 102% and the volume sold by 131%, to hit sales worth £163 million.
Pure juice sales rose in value by 14% but only 2% in volume, while the value of sales for "functional" drinks like Red Bull and Lucozade rose by 18% and in volume by 17%.
Scotland was found to be the highest consumer of soft drinks per household, with 324 litres consumed annually at a cost of £278.
London was close behind with 313 litres per household and an annual spend of £272.
Reader views (14)
Reminds me of the people at a gas station who complain about $2.20 a gallon gasoline, but have no problem shelling out over $2 dollars for a gallon of water. Now, which one do you think is more complicated to produce?
An independent survey just two years ago tested several top brands of bottled water against NY tap water. Guess which was cleaner. TAP!
- Robertt, Louisville, KY
Soon they will be selling canned heat.
- Michael T. Willoughby, Poplar Bluff, Mo. USA
As P.T. Barnum said, "A fool and his money are good for business."
- Stewart, Topeka, USA
The ones I have to laugh at are the people (particularly celebrities) who are always seen carrying a little bottle of water, as if they are crossing the Kalihari Desert and will not have the opportunity for lifesaving fluids for the forseeable future.
- Michael Troup, Aliso Viejo, California, USA
Jennifer, they sell canned air in Japan. No, I'm not joking.
- E In Dc, DC USA
I suggest that anyone whose tap water tastes disgusting get a plumber in to change the pipes. Mine tastes fine as does the water of everyone else I know.
- Paul Urban, London UK
Do they realize that they pay more for their water than for gas? These so called health nuts are probably going on about Global Warming as well (and I hesitate to point out that the manufacture of plastic bottles for water and juices, and consequently the shipping of said bottles does wonders for the envirnment).
- Jennifer Booth, Stamford, CT USA
Bottled water is ridiculously expensive, bad for the environment, and loses to tap water in most blind taste tests. Without a doubt it is the biggest advertising rip-off and con in history. It is equivalent to selling canned air.
- R M, London, UK
I have no problem drinking tap water, if you want to make sure you've got all the impurities out, buy a water filter. I'd rather drink tap than Volvic - that tastes vile! Totally agree with Jpc'c comments.
- Sarah, Enfield
I'm with JPC on this although Belu is environmentally friendly.
- Lloyd, London
I read that the top 2 causes of food poisoning in the UK are and under-cooked chicken and mineral water! I'd rather drink treated tap water than trust my health to the magical volcanic rock filtration system.
- Stephanie, Wapping
The water in London is terrible and I certainly wouldn't drink from my tap. This therefore means that we have to drink bottled water, if you compare this to places like Scotland where you can drink the tap water freely this really is a bad state of affairs.
- Lauren, Acton
Being the sugar addict that I am I spend a lot of time seeking out sugar products and cola is perfect. I understand it's bad for me, but the price of water in bottles in ridiculous. The stuff out of the taps is just nasty and, I guess, water consumption just goes down for me one way or another. I am, also, in no way suggesting that the overcost of water is leading me to drink cola!
- Queen Beena, Wembley
Bottled water is a complete rip off. We have the cleanest tap water in the world in our very homes and you can get tap water for free with your meal in any restaurant. Also it's incredibly bad for the environment, all those plastic bottles don't just vanish once you put them in the bin, and how much carbon do you think was created shipping tonnes of the stuff all the way from some mountain in France?
- Jpc, Islington
