Coke swings l'eau for bottled water market

Drinks giant Coca-Cola is aiming to double its share of the £800m bottled water market with the launch of its Dasani brand in the UK.

The water is currently only available in the US, Brazil and Africa but will be sold in the UK for the first time in February. The US giant will spend around £7m on marketing before launching Dasani across mainland Europe by the end of 2004.

Coca-Cola owns the Malvern brand but is otherwise a minnow in the domestic bottled water market, which is dominated by Danone, the French food and drinks giant, and Nestlé. Danone owns Volvic and Evian, while its Swiss rival has Vittel, Perrier and San Pellegrino. Between them, the two companies sell around a third of the UK's market volume.

Demand for bottled water has exploded over recent years as consumers become more health-conscious and concern about the purity of tap water grows. Last year, around two billion litres of bottled water were sold, compared to just four million in 1975, and research group Mintel predicts the market will be worth £838m this year.

The sector is expected to keep growing, however, with some forecasters predicting that by 2010 the global market will be as big as the carbonated drinks sector, an area more traditionally associated with Coca-Cola's products.

A spokeswoman for Coca-Cola GB said the market offered "significant opportunities" for the company, but denied that the launch of Dasani would hit its other, less healthy brands. "It will complement it," she said. "Our research shows that people who buy fizzy drinks also buy water."

Dasani will be the first purified water to be launched in the UK. Coca-Cola claims that purified water, which goes through a stringent process that involves the minerals being removed before being added again, tastes better than other non-purified mineral waters. It will be primarily targeted at men and woman aged between 20 and 35 years of age.