Podcast special: Alkaline water

Globally, alkaline waters reached 520 million liters in 2017 with a CAGR of 10%, according to figures from Zenith Global. And the category still has a lot of potential: as a bottled water it’s primed to make the most of the overall category’s impressive growth; while also holding a sweet spot in today’s drive towards premium products.

In this podcast we talk to:

• Anne Wong-Erven, Insight and Advisory Director, Zenith Global​
  Anne explains what alkaline waters are; the potential benefits; and why the category is suddenly heating up. Using figures from Zenith’s upcoming Alkaline Water report, she also charts how the market is shaping up around the world and where the biggest growth rates can be found
• Essentia Water: founder and CEO Ken Uptain and chief strategy officer Neil Kimberley. ​
  Essentia (pH 9.5) pioneered ionized alkaline water in the US in the 1990s, and now enjoys an impressive 56% share of the US alkaline water category. Ken talks about how the brand got to where it is today; while Neil gives us his predictions for the US market moving forward
• Actiph Water: founder Jamie Douglas-Hamilton​
  In 2014 Jamie set two Guinness World Records by rowing 5,000 miles across the Indian Ocean from Australia to Africa. He and his crew mixed a little salt water with their drinking water to replace essential minerals, believing this enabled them to hydrate. Actiph (pH 9) launched in the UK in October last year, and while the category is still in its infancy in the UK, Jamie believes it’s on the same trajectory as coconut water.    

This podcast was recorded at Zenith’s Global Bottled Water Congress in Evian, France, in October 2018.