The UK water dispense trade proved its resilience in 2020, shedding handiest 3% of its buyer base throughout the pandemic, in line with the newest findings from Zenith Global, the food and drinks mavens, as introduced to the Water Dispenser & Hydration Association in a webinar for contributors on 22 April.
The overall selection of water dispensers in December 2020 was once estimated by way of Zenith to be 840,000.
• Bottled water dispenser gadgets fell by way of 8% to 38% of the entire.
• Point of use mains water dispenser gadgets dipped by way of 2% and higher their proportion to 39%, overtaking bottled for the primary time.
• Integrated faucet device installations grew by way of 4% to succeed in a 23% proportion.
“With over 80% of bottled units in places of work, it’s inevitable that the hardest hit was in water sales volumes, which dropped by 29%,” commented Zenith Chairman Richard Hall. “This ended in general earnings for the trade declining by way of 15% to £160 million.
“Despite this, Zenith is forecasting a nearly complete bounce back in 2021, followed by renewed growth in the next few years. We expect the number of water dispensers to exceed 900,000 for the first time in 2024.”
Among different findings by way of the Zenith analysis staff, pricing has remained strong. Domestic use of water dispensers rose, however to not the level of different house supply services and products.
“Consumers have definitely become more interested in the health benefits of better hydration wherever they are,” endured Mr Hall. “They are also increasingly interested in dispense and refill solutions in preference to single use packaging. Bottled water dispensers might regain momentum if more consumers realised the bottles are often collected and refilled as many as 20 times,” he concluded.
“We all know that 2020 was a tough year for the industry,” added WHA chairman Jon Wicks. “However, hydration continues to be essential for workforce wellbeing. With WHA members offering high quality sustainable hydration solutions, we are confident of a significant bounce back in 2021/22.”
