Brands such as Danone and Nestlé are fighting back as consumer money worries and environmental concerns hit sales, writes Jenny Wiggins
ELIZABETH ROYTE'S book, Bottlemania: How Water Went on Sale and Why We Bought It, is causing waves.
The book, which describes bottled water as "the biggest scam in marketing history", was held up as serious cause for concern at the annual conference of the British bottled water industry this month.
Industry executives fear that the book, which was published in May, could be as influential on public sentiment as Eric Schlosser's early 1990s investigation into the US fast-food industry, Fast Food Nation: What the All-American Meal is Doing to the World.
The conference also cited posters created by Brita, the maker of water-filter containers, that display photographs of people with oil pouring out of their mouths next to the words, "Last year 16 million gallons of oil were consumed to make plastic water bottles"; and the reusable aluminium bottles made by Swiss group Sigg, which carry such slogans as "I Am Not Plastic".
The campaigns have been effective. City governments in the US and UK have banned plastic bottles and dispensers from their offices.
London mayor Boris Johnson will next month reveal the winning design in a competition for a carafe that will be mass-manufactured and placed in the UK capital's bars, restaurants and hotels.
The lucky carafe, whose designer will receive £5,000 (€5,940), will "empower" people to ask for tap water, Johnson claims.
As the economy slows, financial considerations are compounding environmental concerns.
Canadean, the beverage industry market research group, this month said the entire still water market in Europe was "vulnerable" as people who once happily spent money on brands such as Evian and Vittel increasingly decided there was little point paying for something they could get for free.
Leading bottled water brands such as Danone and Nestlé have been slow in addressing their dwindling sales. As Danone says: "We've been a little bit late out of the blocks in pushing back."
But now they are fighting back.
All companies are impressing on consumers that they can drink bottled water with a clear conscience if they recycle the packaging. Coca-Cola, the owner of the Dasani water brand, is opening what it claims is the world's largest plastic bottle recycling plant in South Carolina early next year.
Companies are also trying to position themselves as guardians of the public health by arguing that their bottles of water can help defeat the obesity epidemic.
"Our product is probably the healthiest beverage when you consider the growing concern of obesity," claims Nestlé.
Jeremy Clarke, the director of a new British lobby group called the Natural Hydration Council, created by Nestlé, Danone and Highland Spring, says the companies want to bring "hard facts" and "real science" to an emotive debate and get involved in the public health agenda.
"Bottled water is the healthiest and greenest drink on the shelves," he says, pointing out that, unlike other kinds of soft drinks, it contains no calories.
"It's the only drink that hydrates with impunity."
Some companies such as Nestlé are also trying to make bottled water more affordable by introducing cheaper versions of their brands.
Nestlé introduced its Pure Life brand into the UK this year. It sells for about 29p for a 500ml bottle compared with 49p for Buxton water.
The question is: can the industry change consumers' minds and reverse the shift from bottled water to tap?
Don Williams, chief executive of London-based brand consultancy Pi Global, says the concept of bottling and branding a natural and free commodity now seems "incongruous".
"Inevitably the plug is being pulled and consumers, urged on by a crescendo of dissent and disgust, are turning towards their taps once more," he says.
"The more you think about it, the more daft it is. Isn't it about time someone set up a factory in the Swiss Alps bottling clean, fresh, pure air? I'm sure there'd be a market for it." - ( Financial Timesservice)
