Mineral Water Sales Are Rising in the United States

Update of March 19, 2025

In 2024, the export of Italian mineral waters to the United States surpassed 476 million euros. The American market represents 28% of the total Italian exports of mineral water worldwide, which are valued at 1.4 billion euros, marking a 28% increase compared to 2023. In terms of volume, mineral water exports grew by 12.9% globally.

In Europe, France, Germany, and England are the top three markets for Italian mineral water exports. Sales in the European market plus England are worth about as much as all the exports to the American market. The data on Italian exports were published by Mineracqua, the trade association that brings together over 300 Italian mineral water brands and about 120 companies. In 2024, sales in the Italian market were 15.5 billion liters [+1.7% compared to 2023]

Update of June 1, 2021

The Seltzer Boom: Sparkling Water Sales in America Are Higher Than Ever

The sparkling water market in the USA is undergoing a phase of change and strong development. As always, the shift in American consumers' dietary tastes, led by Millennials, is driving the development and launch of new products in the market. In value terms, the primary export market for Italian mineral water remains the United States, whose imports from Italy exceed 220 million euros. Additionally, the American market is the only one, along with Switzerland, to have recorded growth in Italian water purchases during the pandemic year (+2.8%)

The drink of summer 2019 fits almost all diets, suits all ages, can be found in grocery stores in the United States (as it has for decades), and won't get you drunk - unless, of course, it's alcoholic.

We're talking about water. More specifically, sparkling water, a generic term in America that includes soda and seltzer. This beverage category is attracting tens of millions of dollars in venture capital investments and is changing the consumption habits of Americans who have long dominated the market with corn syrup-laden soda and watered-down beer.

Sparkling water is part of one of the sectors that has exploded, like so many bubbles of carbon dioxide, said David Henkes, senior executive of Technomic, which monitors food service trends. According to Technomic, mineral water sales were about 1.7 billion dollars in restaurants in 2018, a modest amount compared to the 15 billion dollars invested in fizzy drinks. But while sparkling water sales are experiencing double-digit growth, according to these estimates, traditional soda has only grown by 1% each year since 2016. "We're witnessing a massive change in food tastes in America," said Henkes. American consumers are looking for refreshing alternatives that are best for them, even if this raises the issue of subjectivity.

According to some studies, consuming flavored carbonated water could cause dental issues like enamel erosion and sealant damage. The culprit seems to be the beverage's pH level, but these studies don't seem to have slowed down sales.

In addition to established brands like Canada Dry, Polar, Vintage, LaCroix, Saratoga, Seagram's, Schweppes, Perrier and San Pellegrino, there are new players in the so-called Big Soda - Pepsi's Bubly, Coca-Cola's Dasani Sparkling - along with a host of enterprising upstarts, including Rambler, Waterloo, Spindrift, Richard's Sparkling Rainwater and carbonation machine company Bevi.
 

How Soda Water Started in America

The American Obsession with Sparkling Water Dates Back to the 18th Century

Back then, Joseph Priestley, an English-born chemist and theologian, managed to mix water with carbon dioxide by suspending a bowl of water above a beer vat. Johann Jacob Schweppe, the founder of Schweppes, developed a method for producing and bottling carbonated mineral water based on Priestley's discovery. It was called "soda water" after English chemist Richard Bewley noted that adding sodium carbonate to water improved and encouraged carbon dioxide absorption.

Modern sparkling water is produced by injecting pressurized carbon dioxide into water, a phenomenon familiar to anyone who has used a SodaStream. In the 20th century, sparkling water in the United States had many different names and was considered a sober alternative to wine, beer, and cocktails. Now, with the rise of fruity, alcohol-infused seltzers, sparkling water has come full circle. In the first six months of 2019, the sale of hard seltzer in America reached $389 million according to a Nielsen survey of supermarkets and other beverage retailers, with a 210% increase compared to 2018.
 

What's Behind the Growth of the Mineral Water Market in America

Americans' Renewed Interest in All Things Healthy and the Success of Spindrift

Whether abstaining from alcohol or not, many Americans are beginning to be concerned with the confusing notion of wellness, and this concern can support the sparkling water business. What's really happening is that consumers today have a stronger propensity for everything natural, said David Portalatin, vice president and food consumption business analyst at NPD Group, a market research company.

Last year, NPD surveyed more than 10,000 Americans about their consumption habits and found that we consumed sparkling water an average of 10 times per capita, equating to about 3.3 billion servings, 4 more than in 2013. The main reason is the renewed interest in health and wellness, said Portalatin. Americans don't want something artificial or synthetic. Spindrift founder Bill Creelman grew up on a farm in western Massachusetts, chopping wood and helping with the harvest. I've always been interested in that style of sourcing, but in my thirties, I had kids and started drinking diet soda, he said. I started examining my consumption habits. So he began mixing limes, lemons, and oranges into sparkling water and wondered how he could replicate this kind of experiment on a large scale.

We're taking a different approach than has ever been taken in this beverage category: we're using real ingredients, he said, as opposed to natural flavors or natural essences, vague terms that have troubled competitors (another previous lawsuit for LaCroix). Since its founding in 2010, Spindrift has raised over 40 million dollars from venture capitalists. It expects sales in the USA to reach $100 million in the next 12 months, up from $33 million in 2017. We always knew there would be another evolution of the sparkling water drink: from regular to diet soda, then from diet to something else, said Robin Tsai, managing director of VMG Partners, who invested in Spindrift in 2015. Bill understood the next evolution. Basically, it's water and lemon. It's what you expect it to be. This level of transparency along with taste, we thought would be really appreciated by consumers, and it created a new market in America for everyday drinks. And at the core is good storytelling. Mr. Creelman's company name harks back to summers spent as a teenager, working as a sailor on fishing boats off the coast of Massachusetts.

We were on the North Atlantic on a windy day, said Creelman. The waves were kicking up a misty spray, and the captain turned to me and said: Do you know what that's called? On a windy day, the top of a wave is cut off, and the resulting mist is spindrift. It's definitely a different word, Creelman added. It takes time for people to get used to it. Once they learn it, it's kind of a fun visual for the brand.
 

The Mineral Water Market in the USA is Full of Innovations and New Products

Products and Distribution of Mineral Water in the USA: Bevi and the Ecological Commitment

There's also Bevi, the modern twist on the office water cooler that dispenses flavored sparkling water (in various varieties). Eliza Becton, the company's founder, felt compelled to do something after learning about what is known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a vortex of debris in the Pacific. She teamed up with fellow environmentalists Sean Grundy and Frank Lee and created Bevi in 2013.

Together, recognizing the positive impact that eliminating single-use plastic bottles would have on our world, we designed Bevi as a solution to reshape consumer behavior and influence long-term habits, Becton wrote. First the values, then the flavors come later. The initial idea was just to offer clean water, Becton wrote; We added fizz and flavors to the mix after assessing the market size.

Bevi machines, toaster-sized, hydrate the disruptive masses of companies like Netflix, Facebook, and Google. And with over 60 million dollars in funding, Bevi has been integrated into a start-up on par with those it sells to. Ms. Becton is fluent in the language of socially conscious American capitalism (We don't yet have a Bevi machine designed for home use, but we're focused on continuing to serve customers and improve the experience through their daily journey outside the home)
 

An Example of Product Differentiation in the U.S. Mineral Water Market

Sparkling Water from Rainwater: Rainwater

In 1994, Richard Heinichen began bottling and carbonating the rainwater collected in tanks outside his home in Dripping Springs, Tex. Taylor O'Neill, a former investment banker and hedge fund analyst, seized the investment opportunity in 2017 and soon after became CEO. This month, Richard's rainwater will begin to be sold in 165 Fresh Market stores on the East Coast in California and some grocery supermarkets. And Mr. O'Neill wants to start offering the water in cans, not just bottles, although he said: We tried a lot of cans, but our water is so pure that it can be tainted by even the faintest flavors from the packaging. If Pellegrino is a caress on the cheek, Richard's Sparkling Rainwater is a slap in the face, but a welcome one, lively and refreshing, as if to say Wake up, you're going to miss the summer of sparkling water.
 

Potential Trends in the U.S. Sparkling Water Market

The Brand War and Market Challenges to Win Over American Consumers

But while various competitors hone their brand identities, their points of differentiation, their bar charts, and their launch points, the American consumer, judging by an unscientific survey of sparkling water enthusiasts, is popping cans of mineral water left and right, eager to try new products. I'll drink anything I come across, said Sarah Jampel, editor at Bon Appétit who in 2015 taste-tested and rated 17 types of sparkling water for the Food52 website. What I learned is that I couldn't really distinguish the differentiation among the various mineral water brands.

Perhaps aware of the collective indifference to brand loyalty among American consumers, some American sparkling water companies and beverage distributors are exploring "functional" formulations. Bevi, for instance, is considering adding vitamin C and electrolytes to its waters, and Mr. Tsai, the Spindrift investor, is closely evaluating the functional aspect of beverages. The addressable market, typical of functional beverages, is smaller but more targeted, he said. "Is it for gut health, is it something that helps you relax, gives you energy?” Brands to watch include Recess, a CBD-infused sparkling water, and Olipop, a fiber-rich soda purported to aid digestion.