The Chairman of the world’s largest food manufacturer has told a Swiss weekly magazine that he expects the company to deliver strong results in 2009 despite a “difficult” few months for the sector.”Nestle will … grow respectably in 2009. But that doesn’t mean that the economic situation won’t be difficult,” Peter Brabeck told the Weltwoche weekly in an interview to be published today. “The past few months since November were difficult for the... ...Read more »

PepsiCo’s Aquafina, America’s highest selling brand of bottled water, is launching the lightest half-litre bottle of any nationally distributed bottled water brand in the market, according to the beverage giant. At a weight of just 10.9 grams, the Eco-Fina Bottle is made with 50 per cent less plastic than the half-litre Aquafina bottles produced in 2002, eliminating an estimated 75 million pounds of plastic annually. The company is also looking to reduce its carbon footprint by producing... ...Read more »

The combined forces of the economic downturn and environmental pressures are causing a sharp slowdown in the global bottled water market, according to a recent analysis by global beverage industry specialists, Canadean. The situation is most marked in the USA, where Canadean is forecasting annual growth of under 1% for the next five years. This is a significant deceleration from the double-digit rates seen from 2000 to 2008, and has major implications for the PET plastics industry, in particular. “In... ...Read more »

Helping those less fortunate is as easy as staying hydrated, with Thirst Aid: a partnership between Frantelle Spring Water and Australian Red Cross aimed at raising $400,000 over the next year to support Red Cross’s humanitarian work.Frantelle has already contributed $200,000 to the Thirst Aid campaign, and is calling on the Australian public to help match this amount. Funds raised through the Thirst Aid campaign will allow Red Cross to provide hungry school kids with breakfast, help disaster... ...Read more »

The bottled water industry has yet another new entrant seeking to make an impact in what has been a flourishing industry since the turn of the century; but this entrant offers differentiation never before seen in Australia – a promise to use all of their profits to assist those in need of clean water supplies. Duncan Goose, founder of Global Ethics and the One Foundation, today joined with actors Bridie Carter and Rhys Muldoon, presenter Jennifer Adams and MTV VJ Ruby Rose to launch the product,... ...Read more »

Worldwide consumption of soft drinks rose by 3.9% in 2007 to 552 billion litres, equivalent to 82.5 litres per person, according to the new 2008 Global Soft Drinks report from drinks consultancy group Zenith International. The growth was led by still drinks, the segment embracing a consumer desire for health and wellbeing alternatives, and bottled water, reflecting its natural and calorie free hydration virtues. “Health continues as an increasingly important factor driving purchasing behaviour... ...Read more »

Karpati Water, a Sydney-based company, has come up with an innovative way of producing high quality drinking water from fruit. The method utilised in making water from fruit incorporates the process of making fruit concentrates. Fruit concentrates are typically made from steaming the fruit, with 3 out of 4 litres ‘steamed’ off to make the end product. Karpati Water, however, is made from a ‘pressure-chilling’ process, which reportedly retains the high quality fruit water and makes... ...Read more »

Victorian-based Cool Change Natural Spring Water has launched Australia’s first beverage (spring water) packaged in a bottle made from plants, as they seek to “go green” in an industry often criticised for a lack of sustainability. Rather than packaging a drink in PET, a polymer (plastic) derived from crude oil, Cool Change Natural Spring Water bottles are made using Ingeo PLA, derived from annually renewable sources – plants. This new material is derived from plant sugars... ...Read more »

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) proposes amending the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code to allow manufacturers to voluntarily add fluoride to bottled water. The addition of certain substances, such as fluoride, must undergo a pre-market safety evaluation by FSANZ before they are approved for use at specified levels. If FSANZ approves the sale of bottled water containing added fluoride, it will be a voluntary permission. Manufacturers will be able to add fluoride or not, under... ...Read more »

Isklar Norwegian glacial natural mineral water has scooped the highest accolade of Best Overall Concept and winner of the Platinum Award, as well as being awarded silver in the Best New Brand category, at this week’s 2008 Water Innovation Awards. The Awards, which recognise excellence and creativity on a unique global platform, were known as the Bottledwaterworld Awards for the past five years. An international panel of experts, made up of buyers and industry leaders, judged over two hundred... ...Read more »