Gourmet Business June 2016

I think the American public has caught on to the health benefits of drinking water.  In fact, bottled water is one of the fastest growing categories in the entire specialty food market.  The State of the Specialty Food Industry Report recently released by the Specialty Food Association in conjunction with Mintel notes that the unit sales growth of water from 2013-2015 is forty-four percent, which amounts to a healthy sales growth of a whopping fifty percent.  If the dollar growth is larger than the unit growth, then inherently consumers are spending more money on each unit of water, which means they are willing to pay more for water that they perceive to be better quality.  Can you believe that a bottle of water at the convenience store is more expensive than a bottle of name brand soda?  This isn’t clever marketing at work, this is a sign that consumers are valuing the foods and beverages that can both satiate them and be good for their health.

With this much water being consumed, it’s only a matter of time before some consumers wonder why they keep spending so much money on water when they can get it out of the tap and bring it with them.  Naturally, then, we have seen a growth in the portable hydration market, with many new and interesting products coming to market.  I recently put some Retap glass water bottles in the hands of my girls, hinting that perhaps that might make more sense than buying water bottles constantly, and generating piles of plastic recycling.  Fortunately, it really did catch on with them, and their friends are starting to inquire where to get one of their own.  Lately when I am out in public or at the airport, I certainly see more reusable hydration containers in use than I can recall from years ago.

With all the signs pointing in the right direction, it is clear that the hydration category potential is, in the words of Mr. Trump, huge!  With the hot days of summer upon us, now is a good time to consider the latest products hitting the market, which you will find in this very issue.  Let summer 2016 begin.