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US Point of Use Coolers 2008Published by: Zenith International Published: Aug. 30, 2008 - 93 Pages Table of Contents
AbstractMore so than anywhere else in the world, bottled water consumption has sparked discourse among politicians, retailers, consumers, restaurateurs and businesses. Whilst the supply of pure drinking water has always been a central issue in the US, in recent years American consumers’ drinking water demands and expectations have evolved and become much more sophisticated both in the home and in the work place. There is a growing demand for high quality, environmentally sustainable water. Not only do US consumers want water that is chilled, tastes and smells good, they are increasingly more aware of where it comes from and the ecological impact of its extraction, transport and packaging. In addition, US consumers are willing take responsibility for ensuring that the water they consume is the best possible quality, according to their individual circumstances and means.Water dispensing in the US was traditionally through the simplest fountain units, offering consumers convenient source of ambient tap water when on the go. These most basic of units have gradually been replaced with the home and office (HOD) water cooler concept, which rapidly became ubiquitous across the country in both commercial and residential accounts. Whilst still at a relatively early stage in its development, is apparent that the point of use (POU) concept is increasingly encroaching upon bottled water coolers, offering American consumers a more convenient and many claim, a 'greener', source of chilled, purified water. The success of the bottled water cooler market has provided the platform from which POU has been launched and therefore those areas with the most established bottled water cooler industries have also tended to lead the way for America’s fledgling POU industry. Even the high consumption accounts, such as airports, shopping centres or schools, which represented the last bastion for the original fountain unit, are now falling prey to the POU concept, although fountain units retain one key advantage over POU (and bottled water coolers) in that they eliminate the need for cups. While it is important to note that there are distinct regional variations in POU uptake across the US, there is general consensus that the POU industry has enjoyed sustained growth over the past ten years, growth that has been gaining in momentum over the past five years. Nevertheless, whilst the growth rates have been strong, numbers remain small, particularly in comparison to bottled water cooler units and, overall, many feel that the industry is still in its infancy. The fact that there are just 1.9 POU units for every 1,000 members of the population (compared with bottled coolers which have 16.4 units) is evidence of the nascent stage of POU development. For many distributors, explaining the concept of POU to prospective clients is still a crucial part of the business but increasingly consumers are beginning to see this product as an alternative to their bottled water coolers and/or the consumption of take home bottled water. Despite the fact that some suppliers are now focusing on POU as a principal revenue stream, marketing activity for the product has, on the whole, been limited. Those for whom POU does not represent the core activity continue to rely on referrals for additional business. Websites, word of mouth, piggy-backing from publicity generated by retailers offering similar products (such as Lowes, Target, Home Depot and Office Depot), are the most common promotion strategies. It is important to note that, much like the Italian and German POU markets, the US remains a difficult market, partly owing to its geography and the sheer size of the market, and partly owing to the highly fragmented nature of the industry, with the vast majority of distributors holding just a few hundred or so POU units total. Note: For the purpose of this report, the term 'POU' represents a free-standing unit which is not integrated into any other furniture or mounting. The unit may be either floor-standing or counter-top. Zenith excludes from this definition units which may include POU purification technology but are installed within a cupboard, termed under-the-counter or under sink units and generally feature a pipe connection from the unit to a separate tap which is generally located over a sink, alongside the standard mains water tap. To the contrary many players within the US market will consider the whole gamut of units equipped with a filtration or reverse osmosis purifying device, whether free-standing or not, to be ‘point of use’. In its contacts with US distributors, Zenith has attempted to ensure that only free-standing POU units have been included in the market total estimates. Get Full Details About This Report >> |
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