This year WQP decided to dive into the bottled water market and explore what some of the latest trends and standards are. What drives the bottled water industry? Who is its target market? Why has it continually seen such growth year after year? How have the beverage giants affected the marketplace? And what role does IBWA play in all of this?
At a convention earlier this year, I sat in on a meeting with water treatment dealers where they expressed interest in bottled water. As it turned out, approximately 70 to 75 percent of the dealers in the meeting were either dealing with bottled water or considering getting into the bottled water business. Although it might have surprised many people, I think that it is a perfect fit. After all, we are all looking to sell the highest-quality water that we can whether it is via a point-of-use system or bottled water.
This year WQP decided to dive into the bottled water market and explore what some of the latest trends and standards are. What drives the bottled water industry? Who is its target market? Why has it continually seen such growth year after year? How have the beverage giants affected the marketplace? And what role does IBWA play in all of this?
One of bottled waters biggest trends - enhanced waters - is discussed on page 24. Enhancements such as flavors, vitamins, oxygen and more are added to bottled water to help promote bottled water sales among younger generations. Read about what companies are offering and the state of the enhanced water market. Even the IBWA will have a special bottled water pavilion at its trade show that will feature enhanced products in order for attendees to see where the latest trends lie. (We will update this in future issues, so feel free to let us know if we missed a segment.)
On page 20, you will find the show guide for the IBWA conference and trade show complete with exhibitor list, conference and trade show schedule and products you will see. Also on page 27, WQP spoke with IBWA to find out what has been happening this year, plans for the future and to get an overview of the bottled water market. Come and see WQP at booth 538 at IBWA, and let us know what we can do for you.
In organizing your route deliveries, personal digital assistants have become most popular among bottled water and water treatment dealers. Learn how they can save you time and money by arming your service technicians and route delivery people with these hand-held devices in the field. On page 8, Lorraine Keating of Prism Visual Software shares ideas on automating your routing routines and getting rid of the paperwork stacks.
Lastly, the article on page 16 gives dealers the information they need to know about bottled water testing and labels and how you can explain what they mean to your customers.
Hope to see you in Phoenix!
Wendi Hope King
www.waterinfocenter.com
Download: Here
