【聯合報／By STEPHANIE STROM／任中原譯）】
Water Sales Rise as Soda Sales Dip
Few beverages are available in more places around the world than Coca-Cola. But bottled water is now challenging its dominance.
By the end of this decade, or sooner, American sales of bottled water are expected to surpass those of carbonated soft drinks, according to Michael C. Bellas of the Beverage Marketing Corporation.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Mr. Bellas, who has watched water’s rise in the industry since the 1980s. Sales of water in standard lightweight plastic bottles grew at a rate of more than 20 percent every quarter from 1993 to 2005, he said. The growth has settled into the high single digits.
That shift has posed a tough challenge for the Coca-Cola Company and rival PepsiCo in recent years. While both companies sell bottled water lines, Dasani for Coke and Aquafina for Pepsi, they have had trouble establishing dominance in the more profitable business of so-called enhanced waters — including flavored and carbonated waters and those with added vitamins and minerals — where a horde of new beverage companies like TalkingRain and Fruit2O are giving them strong competition.
Continuing concerns about obesity and related diseases are driving the trend.
In September, Michelle Obama heavily endorsed water, teaming up with Coke, Pepsi and Nestlé Waters, among others, to try persuade Americans to drink more of it.
Bottled water has also grown cheaper, adding to its attraction. Cases of 24 half-liter bottles of some store brands can be had for $2, or about 8 cents a bottle.
“Given where pricing has gone, I would assume that on the average 24 pack of bottled water, Coke and Pepsi are selling at break-even at best,” said John Faucher, who tracks the beverage businesses at JPMorgan Chase.
Some of the things that have made Pepsi and Coke formidable competitors in the soda business work against them in water. The companies, for instance, stock grocery store shelves directly off their trucks. That gives them greater control , but it also is much more expensive than letting retailers handle stocking.
Coke sold 5.8 billion liters of waters abroad and 253 million liters in the United States and Canada from 2007 to 2012. Pepsi’s water sales in North America actually declined by 636 million liters over that period, but it still sold 4.7 billion liters overseas, according to Euromonitor.
Both companies’ soda sales fell in North America over that time. Now Pepsi and Coke are fighting back with investments in flavored and enhanced waters. In October , Coke introduced its first sparkling Dasani drinks in four flavors. Pepsi is expected to unveil a premium bottled water product this year, according to Beverage Digest.
“Is it a great idea? Not necessarily,” Mr. Faucher said of the big companies’ push into enhanced waters.
He added: “Do they have much of a choice? Not necessarily. People want variety and so Coke and Pepsi are going where the opportunity is. There aren’t a lot of other options.”
中譯
放眼世界，比可口可樂更普及的飲料實不多見。現在瓶裝水卻在挑戰可口可樂的獨霸地位。
飲料行銷公司主管貝拉斯表示，到2020年，甚至更早，美國瓶裝水銷售量預料將超過軟性碳酸飲料（汽水）。
貝拉斯從1980年代起就一直觀察瓶裝水銷量增加的趨勢。他說：「我從沒見過這樣的勢頭。」他指出，從1993年到2005年，標準輕塑膠瓶（寶特瓶）裝飲用水的銷售量每季均成長20%以上。如今銷售成長率一直維持在接近10%。
這種轉變近年已對可口可樂及其對手百事可樂構成嚴峻挑戰。儘管這兩家公司也銷售瓶裝水，可口有達沙尼水，百事有阿夸菲納水，卻一直很難在更有賺頭的「加料水」（包括風味水及碳酸氣泡水，以及添加維他命與礦物質的水）業務上取得主導地位；多家新飲料業者在這個市場崛起，如TalkingRain與Fruit2O等公司，正與可口與百事的瓶裝水展開激烈競爭。
消費者持續擔心肥胖及相關疾病，也正帶動此一趨勢。九月時美國第一夫人蜜雪兒．歐巴馬為喝水強力背書，與可口、百事、雀巢飲水及其他業者合力說服美國人多喝水。
售價越來越便宜也為瓶裝水平添吸引力。一些商店自有品牌500cc瓶裝水每箱（24瓶）賣2美元，即每瓶8美分（約合台幣2.4元）。摩根大通銀行專門追蹤飲料業務的研究員佛契說：「由目前市價看來，我認為就每箱24瓶裝的普通瓶裝水而言，可口與百事頂多只能保本。」
曾經使百事及可口兩家公司在汽水市場上成為超強競爭者的一些作法，如今在飲水市場上反而對他們不利。舉例而言，兩家公司都以自有卡車直接把飲用水送到雜貨店上架。這種作法對貨品能有更大的管控，卻比任由零售業者自行處理庫存昂貴得多。
歐睿信息諮詢有限公司的數據顯示，從2007年到2012年可口瓶裝水在國外共銷售58億公升，在美國及加拿大銷售2.53億公升。同期間百事瓶裝水在北美市場的銷售量反而減少6.36億公升，不過國外市場銷售量仍高達47億公升。
同一期間，兩家公司的汽水在北美市場的銷售量都下降。現在百事與可口正針對風味水及加料水進行投資，寄望能藉此收復失土。
可口10月間首度推出自有的達沙尼品牌蘇打水，有四種口味；據飲料文摘期刊指出，百事預料今年內將推出高檔的瓶裝水產品。
佛契針對大型飲料公司也擠入加料水市場說：「這算是個好主意嗎？我看未必。」他接著說：「但他們還有很多其他選擇嗎？也未必。消費者希望產品能多樣化，因此可口與百事便擠入這個有機會的市場。他們並沒有多少其他選擇。」
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