NEW YORK -- As energy drinks and sweetened sparkling waters have become the go-to alternatives to carbonated soft drinks, another old-school bubbly beverage has quietly gained consumer attention with little advertising or flash.
The Trend
Americans’ consumption of unsweetened seltzer jumped 29% over the five years ended in 2013, according to the most recently available data from Beverage Marketing Corp., a New York-based industry tracker, and as cited in a Wall Street Journal report. That compares with a drop of a more than 7% for carbonated soft drinks overall during the same five-year period.
The beverage is benefiting from renewed interest from people who are increasingly avoiding not only sugar-sweetened sodas but also diet sodas with artificial sweeteners like aspartame, according to the report.
Seltzer’s resurgence is happening with hardly any brand advertising. Gary Hemphill, managing director of research for Beverage Marketing Corp., told WSJ that companies still spend much more to advertise traditional soda brands than bubbly waters, even though soda volumes haven’t grown in a decade.
Supplier Boosts
Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. is expanding the distribution across the U.S. of its seltzer brands, which include Schweppes and Canada Dry, to meet growing demand, a spokesman told the newspaper. “We’re beginning to invest in some targeted advertising in the seltzer category as we continue focusing on growing distribution, availability and trial.”
Nestlé SA, meanwhile, is launching more sparkling water flavors, including green-apple and lemon-orange flavors for Perrier.
Other consumers, like 40-year-old Nicholas Fortugno, are making their own seltzer at home using a SodaStream machine.
“I like the tang of bubbles over water,” New Yorker Fortugno told the newspaper. “I like that it’s zero calories and purely hydrating without being completely tasteless.”
Click here to read the complete Wall Street Journal report.
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