FDBusiness.com

As the Western world seeps into every country, more and more branded packaged waters are making their way into African nations, this brings with it safer drinking water for all. With many international charities campaigning for safer drinking water across Africa, more regulated brands are entering the market ensuring that this becomes a reality. CoolPac (SABMiller), the biggest brand across Africa, saw an increase of 27% in volume last year alone, owing to it being trusted by the consumer.

Over the past few years we have been made increasingly aware of the lack of clean water in Africa through charities such as WaterAid and Lifewater, all trying to get donations for their projects in the most poverty stricken regions. With a success story such as Nigeria which has now made itself into the biggest growing economy in Africa, catching up quickly with South Africa. Emma Wright, Canadean Beverage Analyst says: “With this growth in branded water being seen it will not be long until all nations in Africa have the same high level of safe water.”

There are less unbranded street sellers entering the market as they are being pushed out by bigger brands. These brands are offering water in PET bottles rather than the less regulated LDPE sachets on sale across much of Africa. This is especially being seen in Cameroon where PET introductions are on the rise. This trend is set to continue as more brands enter the region in the future. There is also a movement from LDPE sachets towards PET as companies upgrade their offerings.

In both South Africa and Nigeria the 150cl bottle is the leading PET format for brands thanks to its value for money appeal. However, the growth in the economies of these countries has seen a rise in ‘on the go’ consumption boosting the popularity of single-serve packs. In Nigeria Coca-Cola’s Eva is the leading brand in PET, followed by Ragolis (Chagoury Group) and Nestlé Pure Life (Nestlé). The cost of PET packaged brands versus sachets remains a key issue for the consumer and it is likely that more producers other than the leading brands could upgrade from 50cl to offering more 75cl formats. It will also be interesting to see if any brands follow Nestlé’s lead into 500cl in the future.