1. Bottled water Spanish market
Dra. Amelia Díaz
Dr. Miquel Salgot
Universitat de Barcelona
2. Spain has a long dated history on the
exploitation and use of minero-
medicinal waters, as are revealing
the number of spas officially
acknowledged from the beginning of
19th century
Several facilities did found an
additional business opportunity in
the bottling of water from its facilities
The increase of purchasing power
and the boom of beach tourism after
the 60s changed the consumption
patterns
3. Bottled water shifted from being a therapeutic tool to
become a healthy life reference
The business structure of the sector remained divided
into small and medium companies spread all over the
territory occupying the regional market
The basic aspects of the European development were
not implemented in Spain until the 80s when the
country was integrated in the European Union
4. Afterwards, new bottling plants started business and
multinational brands entered Spanish market
Mainly French and Swiss great companies entered
Spanish market in the 70s and afterwards Italian and USA
companies appeared
In a few years Danone, Nestlé, Coca-Cola and San
Benedetto reached leading positions in the Spanish
market
New factories and new springs started to be sold and
bought
7. During the last 25 years, the bottled water sector in
Spain advanced extraordinarily and the sector was
tending to the European business pattern
The Spanish production of bottled water increased 10
times between 1975 y 2010
Bottled water production in Spain, 1975-2010 (measured in million L)
8. The crisis affected also the sector, which in 2013
unchained its 7th year of sales decrease until reaching
around 4,600 million €, a similar level of the one of 10
years ago
All operators were forced to make a full revision of its
strategies. The object was to minimize the reduction of
the business and improve the profit and loss accounts
Apart from other food business sectors, the export did
not help the companies. It is somewhat difficult to export
mineral water due to the high transport costs
9. 10 big groups are owning
quite all brands of the
Spanish market
The leading company is
Danone, followed by Grupo
Leche Pascual and Vichy
Catalán
Other important groups are
Nestlé Waters, San
Benedetto, Coca-Cola,
Grupo Damm, Solán de
Cabras, Grupo Firgas and
Aguas de Teror
Business structure
