Coca-Cola to double it's share of UK bottled water market

Launching its Dasani brand in the UK.

08/09/2003 Drinks giant Coca-Cola aims to double its share of the £800 million bottled water market with the launch of its Dasani brand in the UK.

The water is available only in the US, Brazil and Africa but will be sold in the UK for the first time in February.

Coca-Cola will spend about £7 million on marketing before launching Dasani across mainland Europe by the end of 2004.

It owns the Malvern brand but is otherwise a minnow in the UK 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 firms sell 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 about 2 billion litres of bottled water were sold, compared with just 4 million litres in 1975.

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.