Water is a booming category but retailers should stock trusted water brands if they want to make the most of the opportunities, argues soft drinks firm AG Barr.
Quoting Nielsen Scantrack findings for the year to May this year, company head of marketing Adrian Troy, said: “Water is the fastest growing category in Scottish soft drinks, up 6% with the flavoured water sub-category growing at 5%.
“Shoppers are looking for retailers to stock trusted, quality water brands such as Strathmore, which is growing at 66%.
“Awareness of Strathmore is at an all-time high thanks to its role as the official water of Glasgow 2014. Strathmore was on the field of play in every games venue and was seen by millions of consumers UK-wide.”
Summer is a key sales period for water, says Barr, and last year it was the highest-performing soft drinks category in Scotland, growing by 34% compared to the previous year’s summer.
AG Barr recommends stocking a variety of pack styles to suit different occasions – from on-the-go packs for children and adults, to sports-cap packs for active consumers, large take-home packs and glass bottles.
The firm reckons it has created a profit-boosting new sub-category with the launch of Rockstar Energy Waters.
Rockstar Energy Waters range is a combination of two of the UK’s fastest growing soft drinks categories – flavoured energy drinks and flavoured water both said to be growing at a rate of 9%. There are two variants of Rockstar Energy Water – Blueberry, Pomegranate & Acai, and Peach, in 355ml cans. And the firm has launched Rubicon Coconut Water. It’s available in 1-litre take-home packs and 330ml ‘drink now’ impulse packs in both plain and price-marked packs.
