JOE BEESTON - HIGHLAND SPRING STALWART

Joe Beeston OBE sadly passed away yesterday, the first person to have been honoured by the Queen for services to the UK bottled water industry.

Joe's business contribution was remarkable. He kept the faith with a single minded approach to Highland Spring, building it into a greatly respected brand leader through massive market change. At the same time, he assembled a management team and workforce that became almost an extended family.

To the wider industry, and during his previous career in the world of spirits, he was always a chirpy friend full of great stories, even in his losing battle with cancer. Some of the funniest were about the 2005 G8 Summit held nearby at Gleneagles. When the security services needed to use Highland Spring land for logistics support, it didn't take them long to realise how important it was to him that the Summit should use Highland Spring water in order to be assured of his full co-operation.

Joe, we shall miss you as a mentor and friend.

BOTTLED WATER FOOD MILES - FACT AND FICTION

Some UK politicians have accused bottled water of a massive environmental impact, condemning huge amounts that travel thousands of miles.

Doh ! For a start, I don't think anyone is suggesting that bottled water contributes more than 0.1% of total UK greenhouse gas emissions.

The Times newspaper has highlighted imports from the United States and Fiji. The Government's own trade figures show these were in fact as little as 0.03% and 0.04% of the UK bottled water market in 2006.

Fiji Water in The Grocer at the weekend said its water only comes by ship and a full year's UK imports created less carbon than a return flight from London to New York. Yet somehow BBC Panorama couldn't avoid its flight to Fiji to investigate.

If Fiji water is wrong, what about the £2 billion of wine imports from Australasia, South America and South Africa. And why not ban beer from Mexico or India, vodka from Russia, cut flowers from Kenya or computers from Japan ?

It's not wrong. It's not right. It's a choice.

Certainly, we'll all have to wise up environmentally about some of the choices we make and it's perfectly fair to have a debate about them. But let the debate be informed and proportionate … starting with once respected institutions like Parliament and the BBC.

UK BOTTLED WATER : SAINT OR SINNER ?

4 x 4s, plastic bags, bottled water. Tonnes of oil, loads of waste, bottled water evil, drink from the tap.

This sounds great. Save money, salvage conscience. But there is a real danger that common sense could be turned upside down.

Water is as healthy as can be. It has almost no downsides, unlike any other product.

Stop bottled water in its tracks and people will become

• less well hydrated and less healthy, because 50% of bottled water is drunk on the move and they will drink less liquid


• fatter when obesity is already a major social concern, because most of bottled water's recent growth has been as a replacement of calorie containing drinks.

Ah, but switching from bottle to tap will save the environment. Well, no actually. Bottled water uses less water and packaging than any other ready to drink beverage. Only a tiny proportion comes from outside Europe.

Two action points would be good though.

• Government should encourage local authorities to recycle more plastic. Levels could be doubled if all areas followed best practice.


• Public water supply companies could do more to reduce leakage. At present leakage is over 1,000 times the level of bottled water consumption.

What about the 1 billion plus people around the world without proper access to water ? Well, bottled water companies are doing proportionately more than any other grocery sector.

But isn't all water the same ? Shouldn't we just go back to the tap ? I'm a fan of tap water. I drink it a lot. But in the office we have water coolers for chilled water and jug filters for hot drinks. Sometimes I prefer a water from a protected known source where the water has had no chemical treatment. In other instances, it's a matter of convenience or taste. Should I be made to feel guilty for these entirely reasonable and informed healthy choices ? I believe bottled water is much more on the side of the angels than a sinner.

So how should one respond to a Minister who says bottled water is morally unacceptable ? First, he should retract it because he is wrong. Second, he should concentrate more on real answers to public health, climate change and world poverty. Bottled water's carbon footprint is just 0.1% of the UK total. What about the other 99.9% ? If that's not tackled, then bottled water will be needed for more flood relief emergencies, not less.

US SOFT DRINKS - FIRST FIGURES FOR 2007

As the biggest market for most beverages worldwide, US results are always worth watching. Although the Beverage Digest supermarket numbers represent well under 50% of total volume, they offer very strong indications.

• Energy drinks were up most at 24% - Monster was just 1 share point behind Red Bull.
  
  
• Teas rose 20% - with Lipton pulling away from the competition.
  
  
• Bottled water gained 10% - Private label has jumped to a 22% share and Glaceau has overtaken Dasani in value.
  
  
• Sports drinks increased just 3% - much weaker than in recent years, with Gatorade dipping below 80%.
  
  
• Carbonates fell 8% - worse than the 5% decline of 2006. Coke was down 9%, Pepsi 8%, Cadbury 6% and private label 9%.
  

What should one make of this ? Well, these numbers certainly bear out the trends towards healthier and lighter beverages, with contrasting attractions in more natural or more functional propositions.

Carbonates undoubtedly have the most work to do, but it should be noted that both Coke and Pepsi did increase their prices by 6% in 2007.

Overall, it reinforces the scope for soft drinks to continue growing if they continue adapting and innovating.