Despite the best efforts of bottled water industry opponents, subsequent negative press and a slowing economy, bottled water sales in restaurants continued to grow last year, according to the NPD Group.
The Port Washington, NY-based research firm said in the April 14 issue of Restaurant News that quick-service restaurants reported the most growth in bottled water servings.
An NPD analyst told the trade publication that bottled water’s portability, healthfulness, and a growing variety of flavors are keeping the product a popular menu item.
Bottled water is ranked as one of the top three beverages in terms of incremental-servings growth, with 134 million more servings of bottled water than in 2006, NPD said. Only iced tea and specialty coffee performed better.
The International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) is the authoritative source of information about all types of bottled waters. Founded in 1958, IBWA's membership includes U.S. and international bottlers, distributors and suppliers. IBWA is committed to working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which regulates bottled water as a packaged food product, and state governments to set stringent standards for safe, high quality bottled water products. Additionally, IBWA requires member bottlers to adhere to the IBWA Bottled Water Code of Practice, which mandates additional standards and practices that in some cases are more stringent than federal and state regulations. A key feature of the IBWA Model Code is an annual plant inspection by an independent, third party organization.
For more information about IBWA, bottled water and a list of member‚ brands, please contact
Jill Culora, IBWA‚ Vice President of Communications at 703-647-4609 or [email protected].
Featured Videos 
