Magazine: Content and shape: mineral water bottles do dress up the products

According to Kata Bányi, trade marketing director of Coca-Cola HBC Magyarország Kft., the distributor of NaturAqua mineral waters, after two years of sales decline the mineral water category expanded again in 2015. However, in 2016 sales only improved in a few months and didn’t grow in the rest of the year. Levente Balogh, president of Szentkirályi-Kékkúti Mineral Water Kft. told us that mineral water is the 5th biggest FMCG category in terms of value and it is developing dynamically. Zsóka Balogh, marketing manager of In-Food 2000 Kft., the distributor of Vöslauer waters, informed that sales of the company’s products grew in 2016, because there is always a lower level of seasonality in the premium segment.

In the natural mineral water market volume sales of private label products fell 8.5 percent and value sales dropped 6.3 percent. Krisztina Kozák, marketing manager of Magyarvíz Kft. (they distribute the Primavera, Mizse and Zafír brands) revealed that there were a few months in 2016 when more carbonated mineral waters were sold than still ones. Flavoured waters kept their 10-percent market share. We learned from Adrienn Horváth, marketing manager of Veritas Gold distributor Aquarius-Aqua Kft. that private label mineral waters are more and more important in the business strategy of retail chains. Dr Nárcisz Csákabonyi, managing director of Fonte Viva Kft. (Fonte Verde’s distributor) talked about the challenge of manufacturing private label products – excellent quality and a good price-value ratio must go hand in hand.

Coca-Cola’s experience is that the three most popular flavours are citrus, forest fruits and elder. From Vöslauer’s Balance products shoppers prefer the strawberry-pepper, red grape and citrus flavours; this year’s new product is peach-mango. Consumer demand for lower sugar content has great influence on flavoured products. Aquarius-Aqua Kft.’s view is that the most popular flavours are lemon, elder and raspberry, but duo and trio products are also more and more popular. As for product size, Nielsen found that more than 2/3 of sales is realised by 1.5-litre mineral waters; they are followed by 2-litre waters with a 17-percent share. The market share of 1-litre and smaller products keeps growing, they are already at 14 percent.

Still mineral waters are increasingly popular in both Hungary and at international level. This is the reason why Szentkirályi-Kékkúti Mineral Water Kft. put a new product on the market under the Theodora brand last year: still, soft tasting mineral water Theodora Kereki. This year the company will add new products to their flavoured portfolio. Szentkirályi lemonades will be made with less sugar. A new brand will also be launched in 2017: Magnesia mineral water is rich in magnesium and has low sodium content. The bottles of NaturAqua still mineral waters contain less plastic and are 100-percent recyclable. In 2017 Coca-Cola plans to reduce the weight of carbonated water bottles. Flavoured waters are now marketed in new colour bottles with a new label design, and they are also made using a new recipe. All versions are now low-calorie and a new product, lime-mint will be introduced in May. The company will continue innovating in 2017 and will also come out with a new flavour in the Emotion range.

Aquarius-Aqua Kft. started adding not only new flavours, but also functions to their waters: harmony, vitality and/or vitamins and vegetable components that help to increase consumers’ energy level were combined with high quality mineral water in 2016. In 2017 they try to follow this up with further innovations. The company’s products are already exported to several countries. Last year Veritas Gold was rewarded with 3 gold stars by the independent jury of experts of the International Taste and Quality Institute. In the last few years Magyarvíz Kft. gave a new label with a more colourful logo to the Mizse brand, which targets families. In 2016 flavoured products came out with the Mizse name: orange, elder-grape and green apple carbonated waters in 1.5-litre size. This year will bring the debut of a new bottle with an unusual shape.

Fonte Verde mineral water’s positioning also manifest on the product itself: the mandala motif, the round-shaped logo, the transparent label and the thin, feminine bottle are all visual supporters of the message: ‘Fonte Verde. This is the trend.’ – it is trendy to be health-conscious. The company also communicates the excellent quality of the water’s source. In-Food 2000 Kft. is going to put a new Vöslauer Balance flavour on the market this year – peach-mango – and the summer will bring a new product, too. As the trend of reduced- and zero-calorie mineral waters is strengthening, they decided to launch two new, flavoured, zero-calories waters as well. The Vöslauer brand is dedicated to offering high quality and its communication strategy is focusing on the world of fashion – the brand’s representatives are present at more and more fashion events.