Skip to content
Revenue and Growth
- Revenue from the sales of bottled water: $61.326 million in 2020
- Market growth annually by 10.9%
Production Process
- Sourcing high-quality ingredients
- Mixing and blending
- Packaging into bottles or cans
Profitability
- Normal profit margin: 50 to 200%
- Producer revenue in the U.S. in 2018: $18 billion
Startup Costs
- Minimum startup costs: $12
- Maximum startup costs: $27,209
- Average startup costs: $13,936
Environmental Concerns
- Generates plastic bottle waste
- Chemicals from plastic can leach into groundwater
Market Overview
- Market size in 2019: $19.4 billion
- Per capita consumption in 2019: 44 gallons
- U.S. bottled water revenue growth nearly 6% annually
Bottled Water Industry
- Bottled-water sales have boomed in recent decades
- U.S. bottled-water volumes rose 4% last year
Cost of Starting a Bottled Water Company
- Startup costs range from $750,000 to $1.5 million
- Profits can exceed 100%
Sources of Bottled Water
- Comes from municipal supplies or natural sources like springs
- Sometimes is just tap water that’s filtered or has minerals added
Environmental Impact
- Generates plastic bottle waste that pollutes landfills and waterways
- Producing bottles also uses energy and emits greenhouse gases
Market and Profitability
- Market size for bottled water was $19.4 billion in 2019
- Companies like Nestle make billions in profit selling bottled water globally
Business Considerations
- Low costs and high margins make bottled water lucrative
- Meeting regulatory standards ensures product safety
- Strategic partnerships help establish anchor customers
Future Outlook
- Consumer demand drives the market
- Environmental concerns remain despite profitability
Conclusion
- As long as bottling is profitable, companies will continue pumping groundwater
