> (who would guess that bottled waters are sold by Coke and Pepsi?)
Maybe it's a bit of a reach, but the Coke/Pepsi vending machines here have water in them and that was how I figured out each company also had their own brand of bottled water they also sold (Aquafina for Pepsi and Desani for Coke).
While branded water does sell for more, if you look closely you discover that bottled water buyers are not nearly as brand loyal as other drink buyers are (most cola drinkers have tried both Coke and Pepsi and can tell the difference, most water buyers have likewise tried off brands and been unable to tell the difference). Store brand water sells very well in general.
Even 15 years ago, vending machines sold many different flavours of bottled water. As people became more health-concious, the sugar-free variety grew more popular.
It's less mysterious when you consider the sales trends for bottled soft drinks vs bottled water. People are buying bottled water in situations where they used to buy bottled soda.
Where I live, everyone can buy bottled water in glass bottles. I think there are now glass bottles with Coca Cola, too, though I'm not certain (I don't drink soda).
Bottled water, though, is often absurdly centralized. Dasani bottles might get filled at a relatively nearby Coca-Cola bottling plant, but Fiji's water really does come from Fiji. Despite the outsize logistics costs associated with doing so, the company still manages to make money selling it for only a couple bucks a bottle.
Coca-cola is selling bottled water in Mexico.
They sell it under the brand Agua Ciel. It's the biggest bottled water provider in Mexico.
Keep in mind that everyone in Mexico uses bottled water. The tap water is not safe to drink.
Choosing between bottled water or soda/beer is the false dichotomy. Bottled water wasn’t mass produced prior the 90s, but started being heavily promoted since Pepsi and CocaCola would go out of business with people cutting back soda consumption.
I’m amazed how well their marketing worked to convince people that water is literally toxic unless it comes bottled.
I have a funny story: I went to a place here in the country with natural mineral water springs, the absolute purest water dripping straight from the rock - but visitors (US and Europe) not only requested but insisted bottled water during the stay. The funny part is the bottled water comes from the same place.
The soda companies will be just fine. They've been preparing for this for decades. Who do you think owns the bottled water companies?
Hint: Dasani is owned by the Coca-Cola Company. Aquafina is owned by PepsiCo. They're only at risk if people inexplicably stop drinking regular bottled water and subsist solely upon San Pellegrino or other sparkling varieties.
That should be not so hard to check - some companies bottle water both in plastic and glass, levels can be compared. Others use specific sorts of plastics, so one could check if the particles in their water match the chemical composition of bottle plastic or contain other plastics that are not part of the bottle. Also, many companies supply water coolers which use big bottles made of different kind of plastics than retail water - but likely the water itself, from the same company, comes from the same manufacturing process. The profile of these can be compared and one can see if the bottles are the likely source.
Maybe it's a bit of a reach, but the Coke/Pepsi vending machines here have water in them and that was how I figured out each company also had their own brand of bottled water they also sold (Aquafina for Pepsi and Desani for Coke).
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