Too hot for juices

Mineral water: heat makes sales bubble

Austrians drink an average of 83 liters of mineral water per year.

(Bild: lev dolgachov)

At temperatures above 30 degrees, consumers particularly like to reach for mineral water. The market is extremely competitive, as there are often low-cost promotions and supermarkets offer cheap private labels. Turnover in the domestic retail sector is around 260 million euros. 

On hot days, the bosses of the domestic mineral water companies are in a jubilant mood. At temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius, customers are particularly keen to drink mineral water. "For every additional +0.5° on the thermometer, we notice an increase in our sales figures of around 15,000 liters per day," calculates Coca-Cola boss Herbert Bauer, as the soda giant also owns Römerquelle. Yvonne Haider-Lenz from market leader Vöslauer adds: "Around 23,600 hectoliters were delivered daily on so-called peak days in 2023 - that's almost twice as much as on 'normal' days."

On sunny days, many Austrians find it too hot for juices, beer and wine - the maximum they can drink is a spritz, or sodas are diluted. Suppliers of particularly strong sparkling products benefit from this. At Vöslauer, for example, the "super sparkling" variety saw particularly strong volume growth of 11% in 2023.

Everyone is looking for their own sales arguments: Ludmilla Starzinger, head of the Upper Austrian beverage company Frankenmarkter, is also positioning her range as water for babies, for example, as it has particularly low mineralization, low nitrate and nitrite levels and a neutral taste.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Stock Adobe)

Vitamin waters are also "in"
Positive well-being is not only important for babies. Flavored drinks (with few or no calories) and with special ingredients are all the rage. Strengthening the immune system is just as popular as magnesium supplements for athletes, for example. Vitamin waters are also "in".

Römerquelle boss Herbert Bauer

(Bild: martinsteiger.at)

The containers are also a decisive factor in the purchasing decision. More and more people are opting for reusable bottles. At the same time, convenience often wins out. Gasteiner boss Walter Scherb is therefore scoring points with his 0.33 liter cans, among other things.

"The water market is particularly competitive"
Around 260 million euros are spent on water in supermarkets every year. Waldquelle boss Vítězslav Staněk, who sees his brand as a family product: "The water market is particularly competitive." In addition, mineral is often offered as a special offer to attract customers to supermarkets. This pleases the retailers but annoys the water bottlers. In some cases, only 20 percent of the quantities can be sold at the regular price. Added to this are the chains' own low-price offers (Lebensquell from Spar, Clever, etc.), which take business away from the brands.