The best-selling mineral water brand in January-May was Borsec, which has a 200-year history behind it, followed by Aqua Carpatica and Izvorul Alb, according to the data supplied by market research company Vektor Marktforschung.
The entry of Aqua Carpatica among the top three mineral water brands comes five years after its creation, while the other brands are older.
Each Romanian drinks 58 liters of bottled water a year and Romanian brands dominate the market. Private label mineral water, however, which is cheaper than established brands, has become a significant competitor for brands like Borsec, Bucovina, Dorna, Perla Harghitei and Tusnad.
The 1.5 liter sparkling mineral water Borsec was the best-selling bottled water last year, followed by 2-liter Izvorul Alb and by the 5-liter Bucovina, bottled by Rio Bucovina.
The Vector Marktforschung ranking takes into account SKUs (stock keeping units) and not brands as a whole.
The ten best-selling mineral waters in Romania do not include any international names and only a single private label product.
“The market is growing this year and as a trend I noticed both leading brands (Borsec, Aqua Carpatica and Izvorul Alb) and private labels are on the rise. There is a slight consolidation trend on the market,” said Marius Caluian, general manager of Vektor Marktforschung.
Consumption of bottled water stood at 1.16 billion liters last year, according to Vektor Marktforschung data, which means each Romanian drank 58 liters on average.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)