Market Trends of Italy Bottled Water Industry
Growth in Foodservice Expenditure and Tourism
The Italian bottled market is expected to register steady growth from the food service and tourism industry. The still water segment is expected to register a high sales growth in volume, and the sparkling and functional features are expected to register a high sales growth in value. This can be attributed to the increasing consumer demand for high-quality premium sparkling and fortified drinking water, especially from the food service sector. Bottled water is usually charged much higher prices than off-trade retail distribution channels. In recent years, increasing tourism in Italy facilitated the growth in food service expenditure, propelling the development of the bottled water market. The market for bottled water currently offers a wide range of products with various features and costs. Thus, The extrinsic qualities, such as brand, packaging, origin, etc., and intrinsic qualities, such as the mineral composition of bottled water, affect its pricing.
The growing food service channel is also one of the major driving factors for the sales value of bottled water, as food service occupies more than 60% of the market share due to high product prices in this channel. Additionally, bottled water in Italian restaurants is associated with premiumization, and it is known to be five times costlier in food service outlets than in supermarkets. This factor is impacting its consumption value to a large extent. Moreover, according to a Survey conducted by Banca d'Italia, Italy's overall number of foreign visitors as international tourists in 2021 accounted for nearly 41 million. Over USD 169.832 billion of the Italian GDP was added in 2021 due to travel and tourism. Thus with the boosting tourism sector in Italy, it is anticipated that it will impact the bottled market positively.
The Still Water Segment Holds the Largest Market Share
The still water segment holds a larger share of the market owing to its availability, and consumer preference. Still, spring water is another potential segment in the Italian water industry, although it is still very small. Spring water is increasingly used in the water cooler segment. Moreover, mineral water is a major part of the still water segment in the country. Italy is a country rich in mineral waters and, considering its orographic constitution, it can rely on natural mineral waters of different origins and compositions as a result of its granite rocks, dolomites calcareous, and volcanic rocks. Also, Italy is one of the major exporters of mineral water to the United States.
Moreover, there are many players in the market offering spring water in bottled formats, for instance, the Italian still natural spring water brand called Acqua Panna comes from Tuscany's Gazzarro Mountain. The Panna factory has Europe's most cutting-edge bottling facilities, and currently, one of the top imported still waters at fine dining establishments in the United States is Acqua Panna Natural Spring Water.
