Water & Ice Manufacturing

Water & Ice Manufacturing

Brief Excerpt from Industry Overview Chapter:

Companies in this industry produce bottled water and packaged ice. Major companies include Coca-Cola (Dasani, Smartwater), DS Services, Home City Ice, Mountain Valley Spring, PepsiCo (Aquafina), and Reddy Ice (all based in the US), along with Arctic Glacier (Canada), Groupe Danone (France), and Nestlé Waters (Switzerland).

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Demand for bottled water and packaged ice is driven by consumer spending, population growth, and weather conditions. Public health concerns also increase demand for bottled water in developing regions with inadequate supplies of clean water. The profitability of individual companies depends on efficient operations, effective product pricing, and geographic concentration of key customers. Large companies have advantages in economies of scale in production and distribution. Small companies compete on service, quality, and price. The US industry is highly concentrated: the 50 largest bottled water manufacturers account for more than 95% of category revenue, and the top 50 packaged ice firms account for about 85% of revenue.

PRODUCTS, OPERATIONS & TECHNOLOGY

Bottled water accounts for about 90% of the US industry revenue, while packaged ice accounts for about 10%. Despite large increases in volume sales of bottled water, the category only accounts for a smaller part of revenue in the broader US nonalcoholic beverage market, which is still led by carbonated soft drinks.