Bottled Water Should Cost (Much) Less Than Soda
By
Staten Island, NY Posted: 3/9/2015 1:00:00 AM
How the heck did the price of water go from free... to just as expensive as water?
I used a vending machine today, and they're asking the same price for bottled water as for sodas. This wasn't an isolated incident. If you buy a bottle of water just about anywhere, they often get the same price as they do for drinks with sugar and other ingredients.
Not long ago, if you asked people to pay for water, everyone would think you were crazy. Then in the early 80's, Perrier started selling the first popular brand of bottled mineral water.
At first, it was mainly targeted at the wealthy; they called it the "Champaign of Mineral Water", and trendy people literally drank it up. To many people (including me), it was just expensive water, but you could almost justify the price because it was imported from an exclusive spring somewhere in France. It was also naturally carbonated, so in a sense, it wasn't just water.
In the years since then, as people became more comfortable with the idea of premium bottled water, the market was suddenly flooded with bottled water companies claiming to be getting their water from all sorts of exotic places. Just about every one of them claims that their water is pure as the driven snow, full of all sorts of healthful benefits.
The major beverage companies like Coke and Pepsi eventually jumped in on that market and started offering bottled water too, except they didn't make any claims that their water was from some exotic place. Instead, they use plain filtered tap water, along with exotic names, like Dasani and Aquafina.
So, now Coke and Pepsi bottle the same water they use to make soda, and people happily pay the same price in some places, even though they don't have any other ingredients.
We've heard for years that the most expensive part of restaurant fountain drinks is the cup, so you can almost argue that the reason bottled water is expensive is because of the bottle itself, but it's hard to imagine that the cost of the other ingredients, especially the sugar and carbonation don't make the price gap much larger.
Given a choice between plain water or a Pepsi for the same price, a lot of people will pick the Pepsi, just because it's perceived to be a better value.
I love when I see a place like Walmart or Costco sell water in vending machines at a lower price, but it's rare. I bet if more places did this, they would sell a lot more water to people who simply want a low cost way to satisfy their thirst.
By pricing bottled water much lower than soda, more people would decide to stick with the more healthful choice... water. Personally, I rarely purchase bottled water. I fill my Thermos every day with New York City tap water. To me, it doesn't get better than that.
Joe Crescenzi, Founder
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