Water is simple. Enhanced water, on the other hand, grows more complicated each year.
What started off as an easy formula of vitamins plus water equals profit, has been tugged by newcomers in directions so divergent that some products scarcely seem to belong in the same category. Zero-sweetener, zero-calorie essence waters share little with lightly-sweetened beverages containing active bacterial cultures.
Even where the old formula holds, the category is far from routine.
PepsiCo opened a salvo on category-leader vitaminwater this year when they aired a Propel commercial pointing out that “some” enhanced waters contain 125 calories per bottle – the equivalent of 492 sit-ups. The spot may ultimately cut both ways, though: it begs the question of what, exactly, consumers get from any enhanced water. After all, Pepsi’s own SoBe Lifewater contains a glaceau-like 100 calories per bottle. Now, both beverage giants are hawking low-calorie versions of those same brands. Cannibalization, anyone?
While big firms work on reducing calories in the bottle, they’ve already dropped prices on the bottle. vitaminwater frequently sells at 10 for $10 in grocery stores, as do its chief rivals, and Powerade Zero has appeared for 99 cents in convenience channels.
All that discounting can add up to thinned profit margins for everybody. Frank Zampardi, glaceau’s director of sales for the mid-Atlantic, defended the discounts as a powerful brand building strategy, however.
“We’ll keep running ‘10 for $10s’ for as long as they want,” he said at the National Association of Convenience Stores show.?
But nutritional broadsides and mutual price-strangling represent only the most visible action in this sector. A number of start-ups have now taken a lightly-flavored approach that stays away from vitamin loads. Honeydrop sweetens its organic, calorie-light waters with honey and fruit juice, and “essence waters,” like Hint and Ayala, eschew sweeteners completely.
Some functional waters, conversely, are trying to burnish their reputations by emphasizing on their own efficacy. Function even asked not to be included in an enhanced water update unless the story focused “on truly functional beverages.” Meanwhile, Joint Juice Fitness and Probiotic Health Drink (PHD) offer sheaves of medical studies to support daily consumption of their active ingredients.
All those products have targeted a fertile market. Regular bottled water has suffered over the last year, but vitaminwater has surged 36.4 percent. IRI reports that the brand now boasts $429,670,800 for annual sales, setting a strong precedent for retailers to stock similar products.
Clearly, there’s room to grow – and grow more complicated as young companies continue to introduce fresh ideas.
BRAND NEWS
Hint, Inc.
In addition to its nine existing flavors, HINT recently launched 4 more: Honeydew Hibiscus, Hibiscus Vanilla, Blackberry and Watermelon. HINT also signed a national deal with Whole Foods, and signed on VP of Sales Danny O’Connor, who served at Mistic, SoBe, glaceau and Fuze.
Eldorado Natural Spring Water
Eldorado has expanded its new line of Organic Vitamin Charged Spring Water to six flavors with the addition of Peach/Mango and DragonFruit to the original lineup. ?The new flavors – and soon the original ?four – have been reformulated to use ?only 16 grams of organic cane sugar ?per serving, low enough to qualify for ?sale to elementary school students.
H2Om LLC
H2Om Water is now available at Whole Foods Markets in all of California, Nevada and Arizona, as well as fine markets and retailers including The Lassen’s chain, Tommy K’s Vitamins, Akins-Chamberlins Markets, New Leaf Markets, California Co-ops and Yoga Studios. H2Om also recently celebrated signing with Tree of Life and UNFI, ?two of the largest natural health food ?distributors in the United States.
Jones Soda Co.
24c, the Multi-Vitamin Beverage distributed by Jones Soda Co., has added four new flavors to its line-up – Blueberry Grape, ?Kiwi Dragonfruit, Red Grapefruit, and Strawberry Lemonade. Chris Chelios of ?the Detroit Red Wings has also signed on ?as a 24c spokesperson.
ganic consumer products Ltd.
ganicwater recently won the gold prize for Best Label, and bronze in the category of Best Flavored Water at the 2008 annual Water Innovations Awards.
Nature 101
Vitamin + Fiber Water announced a new partnership with Southern Wine & Spirits. Vitamin + Fiber Water boasts more than seven grams of fiber in every bottle and has a high content of Vitamin C, B, A, and other essential antioxidants. Vitamin + Fiber Water comes in five flavors: OrangeUHappy, Mellow Mango, Pomehydrate, Lychee Luv, and Peach Ecstasy.
Cutting Edge Beverages
Cutting Edge Beverages introduced the first clear organically certified enhanced water. H2Organics combines low calories, low carbohydrates, low sugar and USDA certified organic labeling. The brand’s ten varieties include: ENERGY (blueberry peach), THINK THIN (lemon), FOCUS (strawberry), MELLO (mint), RELAX (grape berry), FLEXABILITY (strawberry apple), ANTIOXIDANT (pomegranate acai), FOCUS (orange tangerine), DEFEND (raspberry), and HYDRATION (green apple).
bot beverages
bot beverages announced its newest retail partner, Fairway Market, with locations throughout greater New York. All four varieties of bot will be sold in all four Fairway Market locations – Manhattan, Harlem, Brooklyn and Plainview, Long Island.
National Beverage
enVitam is a bilingual enhanced water. enVitam’s positioning targets today’s multi-cultural consumers with five flavors, including Pineapple/Maracuya Y Pina, and Orange/Naranja. The labels are written in Spanish and English, and include merchandising elements for truly bilingual branding. Asante (translation, “to Health”) debuted at the Stanford Cup LPGA in April 2008. Blueberry, Cranberry Goji and Pineapple Passion Fruit are among its nine flavors.
Maddie’s Beverage Company
Wateroos children’s water drink boxes gained distribution, adding Price Chopper, Roundy’s and Earth Fare to its list of retailers. In addition, the line is now being carried in a new natural food and beverage set at Babies R Us and Toys R Us nationwide. The line includes three flavored waters and one unflavored water. The company recently launched an on-pack promotion with PBS KIDS offering a free trial to PBS KIDS PLAY!.
Inov8 Beverage Company
For 2009, HYDRIVE is featuring new graphics and adding a new SKU: HYDRIVE A - Alertness Formula - kiwi strawberry flavor. All HYDRIVE flavors deliver full power energy with just 30 calories and 6 grams of sugar per 15.5 oz. re-sealable PET bottle. HYDRIVE is currently available in the Northeast and Midwest and is expected to roll out to other markets during 2009.
Next Generation Waters
Next Generation Waters’ (NGW) line of functional beverages hit South Florida shelves in November, launching Kick, Chill, Thin and Hot waters. Southern Wine & Spirits is leading NGW’s distribution, rolling out the first four beverages to regional retailers, with a national launch mid-2009. NGW supports WaterAid, an organization that aims to overcome poverty by enabling the world’s poorest people to gain access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene education.