Mount Franklin has been named Australia's favourite water brand following a nation-wide survey by Roy Morgan Research.
In 2015, 5.3 million people (or 27.1% of Australians over 14 years) drank bottled water in any given seven days, compared with 4.9 million the previous year, said Roy Morgan.
Mount Franklin was the choice of nearly 40 per cent of all bottled water consumers in this seven-day period, with Coles Natural Spring Water a distant second (14%), just ahead of Pump Pure Water (12.8%).
Evian is still only the 10th most popular bottled water in Australia, consumed by 1.6 per cent of the population.
Source: Roy Morgan Single Source (Australia), January–December 2015 (n=3,662).
Overall, a greater proportion of Australian women (29.7%) than men (24.5%) drink bottled water in an average week, and this pattern is evident across most of the top 10 brands.
Cool Ridge and Fiji Water have the most pronounced gender skew towards women, while only Peats Ridge is consumed by slightly more men than women.
Australians under 50 are markedly more likely than older Aussies to drink bottled water, with its popularity peaking among the 25-34 year-old bracket.
Bottled water consumption is most widespread in Western Australia, where 30.2 per cent of residents drinking it.
NSW is close behind (29.0%), whereas Tasmanians are below average at 22.3%.
“Selling something we can drink for free from the tap is a big ask, but by emphasising the natural and untouched quality of their water, these brands are implying that they are better for the consumer than tap water,” Andrew Price, consumer products GM at Roy Morgan Research, said.
“This message appears to be resonating with more women than men.
“Not only do they drink more of it, but slightly more of them agree that ‘bottled water is better to drink than tap water’.”
Juice category disrupter Nudie, meanwhile, has just entered the water category with its take on "water jugs filled with floating pieces of fruit that you may find in cafes and backyards" .
Nudie Water is made from nothing but water and a splash of real fruit or veggie juice.
