Water Sales Are Helping Soft Drink Industry скачать в хорошем качестве

Water Sales Are Helping Soft Drink Industry

Is the soft drink industry dead? Brian Sozzi, a special features contributor at The Street, thinks so and says in the financial world brown, fizzy beverages are showing very slow growth. So are Coca-Cola and Pepsi in trouble? Sozzi thinks Pepsi has less to worry about. PepsiCo's protein-infused Gatorade sports drinks are selling well. And PepsiCo has built a sizeable snacks business that includes healthier options like Stacy's Pita Chips, not just Frito Lay and Cheetos. Sozzi said he is concerned that snacks aren't even on Coca-Cola's radar screen. Soda is still American's go-to drink, but its share of the U.S. beverage market shrunk 2 percent last year. Greg Wank, chairman of Anchin, Block & Anchin's food and beverage division, says people want nutrition out of their beverages. They don't want just sugar and water anymore. But people do want water, and lots of it. Last year, Americans drank nearly 11 billion gallons of bottled H2O, a 7 percent jump from 2013. It should be noted that Coca-Cola and Pepsi own water brands. Wank says innovative waters are all the rage. At a recent food industry expo, maple water, cactus water, and birch tree water were generating a lot of buzz. At Whole Foods in Brooklyn, local forager Elly Trusdell is seeing the same demand. She says people really want a satisfying beverage that is hopefully low-calorie and gives them some sort of nutritive benefit, such as coconut water, maple water and watermelon water. One local water brand she loves is called Vrou. Jeff Mroz and Kathryn Moos started the brand in New York City in 2013. Moos claims it is great for immunity, bone strength, and metabolizing energy. The Manhattan-based brand is catching on with some local celebrities. New York Rangers Henrik Lundqvist and Marc Staal are fans. Celebrity trainer Joel Harper is, too. And Vrou is hoping to grow. Mroz says the company has been contacted by a lot of potential investors, who are excited to help raise money to expand Vrou. Mroz says the company is thinking of taking on some of those interested people. --ALISON MORRIS