Seventy percent of growth in the bottled water industry in the past 10 years has been at the expense of soda pop, said the chairman of Nestle Waters North America.
WASHINGTON -- Local bans are unlikely to stop bottled water overtaking soda pop as Americans' preferred beverage by the end of the decade, the chairman of Nestle Waters North America said Thursday.
Speaking to reporters in Washington, Kim Jeffery forecast that "within the next five or six years," bottled water would become "the No. 1 beverage in America" as consumers turn away from carbonated soft drinks.
He acknowledged efforts by environmental activists to ban the sale of bottled water on college campuses, after the affluent Boston suburb of Concord this year became the first U.S. city to ban bottled water.
But he played down the impact of such campaigns -- which allege that water in disposable plastic bottles is harmful to the environment and no better than tap water -- on overall sales.
Water Up, Soda Down
"The category grew 7% this last year. It was the highest growth rate we've had in six years," said Jeffery, adding that carbonated soft drink sales fell by 1% during the same period.
"These trends are continuing and, in fact, they are starting to accelerate because carbonated soft drink consumption has really fallen on hard times."
Seventy percent of growth in the bottled water industry in the past 10 years has been at the expense of soda pop, he said, adding that if colleges do ban bottled water, students will likely just go off campus to stock up.
