Focus On Bottled Water: 14 February

By Rob Brown rob_j_a_brown@hotmail.com

Publishing: 14 February 2026       

Advertising deadline: 29 January 2025       

Submissions deadline: 22 January 2025       

The UK’s thirst for bottled water seems unquenchable. Sales have surged by 13.4% in value and 12.8% in volume in the past year, making it one of grocery’s fastest growing categories. Given the popularity of reusable bottles and sustainability concerns around plastic, what’s driving continued water purchases? 

• Why are people still buying so much bottled water? Is this tied to health trends?

• How much of the work are flavoured waters doing? 

• How has inflation and tighter budgets affected bottled water sales?

• Which brands are winning and losing in bottled water? 

• And how might incoming tighter regulations around plastic waste affect this category? Bog standard vs flavoured

• How have flavoured waters performed in the past year relative to plain or sparking waters? 

• Which flavours are gaining popularity? 

• Which are losing favour? 

• What innovations have been launched? 

Deposit Return Scheme 

• How does the looming DRS affect the category?

• What can be done to increase recycling rates? 

• How much rPET is used in the UK market? 

• How many people in the UK use refillable water bottles? 

• How is that changing? 

• Which refillable water bottles brands are in strongest growth? 

• Where does Extended Producer Responsibility fit into the picture?

Packaging 

• To what extent does bottle size and cap type influence consumer choice? 

• What innovations have their been in terms of packaging types? 

• Do consumers really care about single-use disposable plastic packaging? 

• How much of it is recycled? 

Innovation

• We will profile four new products or ranges. We need launch date, rsp, and a hi-res picture of each.