Bottled Water ‘Number One’ beverage for a Healthy Lifestyle.

In a recent survey conducted by Harris Interactive, bottled water was the Number One choice of consumers when asked to identify the bottled beverage they most associate with living a healthy lifestyle. In the survey, respondents were asked, “Please think about living a healthy lifestyle. Which one bottled beverage do you associate most with living a healthy lifestyle?”

The results were as follow (in descending order):

— Bottled water (58 percent)
— Milk (22 percent)
— None of these (6 percent)
— Bottled fruit beverages (5 percent)
— Sports or energy drinks (3 percent)
— Other (3 percent)
— Bottled tea (2 percent)
— Carbonated soft drinks (2 percent)
— Bottled coffee (less than 1 percent)

Linda McDonald, MS, RD, editor and publisher of Supermarket Savvy newsletter, said of the survey results, “It is encouraging to see that the majority of consumers make bottled water their healthy-lifestyle bottled beverage-of-choice. Because it does not contain calories, caffeine, sugar, artificial colors, alcohol, or other ingredients, I think that there is nothing better than water to refresh and hydrate, and bottled water provides a smart beverage choice.”

“While all beverages have their role in the marketplace, consumers are choosing bottled water in greater numbers for a variety of reasons,” said Stephen R. Kay, IBWA vice president of communications. “The consistent safety, quality, good taste, and convenience make bottled water a natural choice that can contribute to a healthy lifestyle.”

According to Beverage Marketing Corporation in its 2007 report, “Bottled Water in the United States,” U.S. bottled water sales exceeded 8.25 billion gallons, a 9.5 percent increase, bottled water per capita consumption level of 27.6 gallons increased by over two gallons, from 25.4 gallons per capita the previous year. Additionally, the wholesale dollar sales for bottled water exceeded $10.8 billion, an 8.5 percent increase over the prior year. Bottled water in 2003 emerged as the second largest U.S. consumer beverage category by volume behind carbonated soft drinks (CSDs); a position the industry still retains. “While CSDs still have volume and average intake levels more than twice as high as bottled water,” Beverage Marketing reported, “the soft drink market has been stagnant lately, in no small part due to bottled water.”