Coca-Cola To Launch Bottled Water in North America

The Coca-Cola Company (Atlanta) plans to launch its first bottled water brand in North America.

The new product, called Dasani, is described as "a purified, non-carbonated water enhanced with minerals." Previous reports about Coke's potential entry into the market indicated the water would come from wells or taps, be purified, and then have minerals added to it. (Click here to read related article). The product is expected to join the company's lineup of other beverage brands sometime before the summer of 1999.

"Dasani provides us with an excellent water brand to complement our strong portfolio of carbonated soft drinks and non-carbonated beverages," said Frank Bifulco, VP of marketing for bottle/can operations in the U.S. and Canada. "North America bottlers of Coca-Cola products can now offer their customers a bottled water brand from The Coca-Cola Company that delivers great taste and a unique consumer proposition."

Bottled water sales—which held at $2.65 billion in 1990— took a leap up to $4.3 billion in 1998 after riding 10% growth over 1997. By contrast, The $56.3 billion carbonated soft drink market grew by only 3% last year.

Dasani will be packaged in a light blue plastic bottle and will be available in 20-oz (single-serve and multipack of six), 1-L and 1.5-L sizes. It will be the seventh brand The Coca-Cola Company has added to its portfolio in the United States over the past five years.

Internationally, the company markets a bottled water brand, BonAqua, in about 35 countries.