Association: still mineral water more and more popular

In the first nine months of 2012, market share grew by 4.8 percent compared to the previous year. "This is a trend that has been going on for years and is probably rubbing off from italy, france and spain," seip said in the run-up to the beverage fair brau beviale, which begins on tuesday.

According to the association, the trend toward still water is increasingly coming at the expense of classic carbonated mineral water. Its share of the soft drinks market from january to the end of september was only 20.5 percent – 2.1 percent less than in the first nine months of 2011. Curative waters are currently experiencing a slump in sales and turnover; their market share in terms of volume had fallen by 17.5 percent to 0.2 percent by the end of september. The reason is probably the "granny" image of the healing water, seip suspects.

Overall, the mineral water market developed stably in the first three quarters of 2012. With an annual per capita consumption of 42 liters, mineral water remains by far the most popular non-alcoholic beverage among germans, explained seip, who also represents the non-alcoholic beverage industry association (AFG). At 51.9 percent, mineral water increased its market share by 0.5 percent in the first nine months of 2012. Because of the lower price compared to fruit juices, however, the market share in terms of sales was only 29.1 percent.

Consumers, on the other hand, turned less frequently to fruit juices and fruit nectars than in the previous year. By the end of september, her market share had dropped by 13.8 percent to 8.2 percent. The reason for this is the rising costs of juice manufacturers for raw materials, which the manufacturers have passed on to consumers in the form of rising prices. In recent months, this has led to consumers switching to other soft drinks, reported association head seip. If the market for fruit eased again, consumers could expect price reductions for fruit juices and fruit nectars.