PURCHASE, N.Y. -- PepsiCo Inc. is continuing to tap into demand for sparkling water with its Bubly Fountain.
Earlier this year, the Purchase, N.Y.-based company launched Bubly, a calorie-free sparkling water, with two TV ads during the Oscars. In its first year, Bubly is set to generate about $100 million in revenue. PepsiCo Foodservice is now spinning off the drink line into a four-valve fountain.
The beverage behemoth told Bloomberg that it is installing dozens of Bubly Fountains in California and Nevada. Besides convenience stores, San Diego State and the University of California-Berkeley are also adding the devices, as are offices and hotels.
The units can gather data that will likely influence Bubly’s next flavor rollouts. “The insight allows us to learn a lot about consumer preferences,” Anne Fink, president of PepsiCo Global Foodservice, told the news agency.
Consumers seem to be embracing the drink, which is directly competing with LaCroix. About half of Bubly consumers are buying two or more flavors per trip, according to a recent PepsiCo survey. As of Dec. 1, the drink is the best-selling sparkling drinking water on Amazon.
Flavored waters are one of the fastest-growing beverage categories in limited-service restaurants, up 19% since 2016, according to Technomic’s 2018 Beverage Category Menu Insights report.
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