The cold vault is overrun with new products and traditional favorites. Chains can’t afford to waste cooler space on brands that don’t sell. By Howard Riell, Associate Editor. Water continues to briskly flow into and out of convenience stores. It’s bottled, it’s branded, it’s often flavored and, increasingly, it’s infused with ingredients that are good…
Functional Focus
The bright light in the bottled water category remains enhanced waters, which consumers looking for more than just refreshment are coming to appreciate. That said, selling enhanced–or any other bottled waters in troubled economic times–means taking greater advantage of supplier programs and doing some savvy marketing and merchandising. The year just passed was difficult on…
Specialty Water
TOP PERFORMERS Glaceau VitaminWater (Coca-Cola Co.) Gatorade, Propel (PepsiCo) SoBe Life Water (PepsiCo) HONORABLE MENTIONS Metromint With demand for enhanced waters showing no signs of abating, it is clear that consumers continue to seek the benefits of vitamins and other specialty ingredients in their beverages. According to a Nielsen study released in November, the unsweetened…