As Hurricane Harvey heads towards Texas, we are reminded as to why the bottled water business is such a good business to be in. The human body can survive for about three days without water. Knowing that the balance of life and death rests with water, you would expect there to be some substantial returns to be had in that type of business.

Bottled water is also a reliable way to deliver safe drinking water to parts of the world where it is potentially unsafe to drink. According to one report we read, the global bottled water market was valued at $170B in 2014 and is expected to reach $280B by 2020. Bottled water comes in various types such as spring water, purified water, mineral water, and ground water. It can be carbonated or not, plastic or glass, and offers good taste, quality, and convenience.

So knowing that bottled water has many advantages, who are the market leaders?  The industry is dominated by Coca-Cola, Nestle, and Pepsi.

Pepsi’s waters and other non-fizzy drinks would include the following:

In the GOOD FOR YOU category: Aquafina, Kevita, Naked, Tropicana, and Gatorade
In the BETTER FOR YOU category: SoBe, H2OH, and Propel

What about Coca-Cola’s?

Desani, Minute Maid, Ciel, Powerade, Simply Orange, Glaceau Vitaminwater, Glaceau Smartwater, Del Valle, Fuze Tea and Punch, and Odwalla.

and Nestle’s?:
Here’s their tag line: The healthy hydration company: Pure Life, Arrowhead, Deer Park, Ozarka, Ice Mountain, and Poland Springs.
Add Nestea, Perrier, Pellegrino, Sweet Leaf and others you have a powerful beverage titan in addition to all the food they sell.

These are the top three soft drink companies in the world.

Certainly we left out most of the fizzy drinks and some of these need to be refrigerated to stay fresh.  Also, in the event of a hurricane, you are likely to lose power. Therefore, straight bottled water will be preferred. Anyway, we invite those in Texas and Louisiana to ponder their fortunes this weekend as they sip water and try to stay dry.

Oh, and lest we be remiss, for those of you possibly suggesting a hurricane party and in need of something stronger, you can probably stock up on your favorite Diageo or Constellation brand beverage. Or if you somehow like your coffee room temperature or cold depending upon the electricity or gas that got snuffed out based on the flood or hurricane conditions, then Heinz or Smuckers comes to mind.

All in all, these are fascinating brands and businesses and they appear to be operating in very predictable and dependable parts of the economic landscape.

Finally, we do wish everyone well and hope that there is no loss of life or substantial damage in the impacted areas. Good luck and stay safe.