France's non-alcoholic beverage sector, which includes carbonates, fruit and vegetable juices, bottle water, functional drinks, concentrate, ready-to-drink tea and coffee, has enjoyed relatively stable sales in both volume and value for the past three years, according to the latest report from the USDA. in 2011, leading bottled water players adjusted their strategies and geared up their marketing and communication activities to emphasize the health and natural benefits of bottled water. Retail sales of bottled water in 2011 reached US$ 3.9BN, a value increase of 2% over the previous year. Still and sparkling bottled water are leading sales both in value and volume. Flavoured bottled water sales were worth US$ 180M, while functional water remains a niche market with total sales under US$ 3M.
