Introduction: Market Overview

The following blog will focus on the bottled still water market in France. We have chosen Evian, Contrex and Cristaline in order to conduct our brand audit. Firstly, we will focus on the overall French bottled market. Secondly, we will discuss Evian’s, Contrex’s and Cristaline’s customer insights and how these brands have managed to change consumers’ attitudes toward bottled water over the course of the past decade. Finally, we will analyze the competition within the market of the three above mentioned competitors and draw a conclusion. Areas of interest include marketing, communication and differentiation strategies of key competitors in the market. 

Bottled Water Market: Global Overview

Almost 70% of the earth is covered with water. However, only less than 1% is ready for human consumption without being processed first. Some of the most common types of bottled drinking water are: still mineral water, spring water, artesian, and purified water packaged in plastic or glass bottles of different size range.

Over the past decade, the global bottled water industry has become very profitable. Bottled water is one of the most popular beverages on the planet and its consumption continues to grow rapidly, even in countries where the quality of tap water is good. The bottled water industry boom began in the early 1980s and has shown significant growth since then. This boom in the consumption of bottled water has moved the product beyond the niche market and into the mainstream. Currently, companies like Evian make billions of dollars on water. 

Although, the growth has taken place globally, bottled water consumption has grown significantly in Western Europe, Asia and Northern America. This growth is the result of various factors that have contributed to the increase of demand for bottled water. Many people drink bottled water because they prefer the taste to that of tap water or perceive it to be more pure, clean. Bottled water is seen as a natural product and a significant part of a healthy lifestyle. Portability of bottled water and accessibility in stores, supermarkets, restaurants, gas stations and vending machines has also increased the demand. 

French Bottled Water Indusrty

According to Euromonitor International’s market report, “Despite the decline in recent years the overall bottled water environment in France increased by 2% in total volume terms in 2010. Manufacturers were able to change the declining trend despite many barriers, such as the fall in consumers’ buying power in France, the increasing use of water filtering systems, communication campaigns related to high quality tap water, and the increasing ecological concerns raised by bottled water. Good weather and the extended summer also helped overall sales in 2010.”

Neptune SA, which owns Cristaline, remained the leading player in the bottled water industry in France, accounting for a 21% total volume share in 2010. Neptune SA was closely followed by Groupe Danone owning Evian and Volvic, and Nestlé Waters France SAS which owns Contrex, Hépar and Vittel, each holding volume shares of around 20%. The three giants of the French bottled water industry were able to hold their position in 2010 by strongly focusing on advertising campaigns to retain customers.