• Brandweek , Monday, September 8, 2008 9:31 AM

After almost a decade of triple and then double-digit growth, sales volume for bottled water grew less than 1% for the first half of 2008, according to Beverage Digest. Despite massive discounts, the chief culprit is the economy. Shoppers are less interested in paying for a product that they can get for free.

A secondary reason is that consumer activists have railed against buying non-reusable plastic bottles because many will end up in landfills. Plus, many gallons of fuel are used to transport the product. Finally, there is a belief that PET bottles leech toxins into liquids if frozen or heated up, a claim that is widely disputed.

A recent report by Brand Keys, based on responses from 26,000 consumers in the first quarter, shows "value" is the No. 1 attribute consumers are seeking in bottled water, beating out "purity." The average price of bottled water was down 6.6% at supermarkets for the four weeks through Aug. 10, according to IRI.

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