"Distribution Channels for Bottled Water in United Kingdom"

BOTTLED WATER DISTRIBUTION IN THE UK

The UK bottled water market , a sub segment of the soft drink market has continually increased it share of the soft drink market . Thomson (2008 reports that the UK market for bottled mineral and spring water alone experienced consideration expansion and is now worth an estimated E1 .7 billion annually , taking up about 15 percent of the soft drink sales in the UK . The market is projected to rise to 21 percent of the soft drink market by the end of 2008

Datamonitor (2007 ) reports that

the UK bottled water market generated growth interest (CAGR ) of 9 .4 percent for the period between 2002 and 2006 . Further , market consumption volume is estimated at 2 .3 billion liters in 2006 , representing a compound annual growth rate of 8 .5 percent between the same periods . The authors further projected that the performance of the bottled water market should increase by an anticipated compound annual growth rate of 8 .6 percent during the five year period ending in 2011 to about 3 .4 billion liters , expanding the market to about 4 .2 billion by the end of 2011 . The projected expansion of the market enhances the chances of new entrants into the market (Datamonitor , 2007 Thomson , 2008

The UK bottled water market is mainly comprised of sparkling flavored water , sparkling unflavored water , still flavored water and still unflavored water . Breaking down the market performance of each of this group of bottled water , Datamonitor reports that still unflavored water proves to be the most lucrative for the year ended 2006 , generating revenues estimated at 1 .3817 million or taking up about 49 .6 percent of the unflavored bottled water that generated revenues of 916 .5 million representing 32 .9 percent of the market share . In sum , Thomson (2008 reports that still bottled water , both flavored and unflavored , accounts for 86 of the market (Thomson , 2008

The entrance of Herbal Water into the UK bottled water market will be enhanced by a couple of factors . Most significant among these factors is the trend , the increasing demand for spring , mineral or nutrient rich water . Thomson (2008 , reports that the market demand for mineral water continues to grow faster than other sections of the bottled water market

As mentioned previously , the market share for mineral water was estimated at ?1 .7 billion annually in 2007 and it is projected to experience further growth . Furthermore , the author reports that there appears to be excess demands for the product , with several customers reporting that they experience out-of-stock , when shopping for mineral water in their grocery store . Ayala 's Herbal Water with her first herbally flavored water is expected to make a difference in the UK bottled water , especially within the mineral water sub-segment

The UK bottled water market has a fragmented structure with no definite distribution chain . Although major players like the multinational company Da and Nestle are involved in the market , the major buyers are retailers . The most apparent distribution chain involves...