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In this Market Assessment report, It analyses the EU water industry, including water supply and waste water treatment. It is structured around a country-by-country description for each member state, as well as a discussion of key issues for the whole of the EU. Statistics are given for freshwater abstraction, main water uses, sewage treatment and the quality of bathing water. For each country, the report provides a discussion of market structure, with particular reference to the way in which the water industry is organised, and an account of the main players in the industry.

The EU water industry is driven by legislation in the form of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) and associated legislation. The main aim of the WFD is to enable the EU to achieve a `good status’ for its waters by 2015. A staged approach is incorporated in this legislation, with specific targets to be achieved by specific dates.

Most of the EU’s water resources are from surface water — which, for some EU countries, relies heavily on inflow from neighbouring countries. This feature, together with the geographical topography of some major European river basins, means that there is extensive interdependence between countries. An important aspect of EU water resources is the uneven distribution across Europe. In Scandinavia, with its low populations and small agricultural requirements, water resources are very abundant. This is in contrast to the Mediterranean region, with its hot summers and large agricultural industry, which has less access to water.

Important issues have to be addressed in the EU water industry, including the increasingly significant topic of climate change. As a result of climate change, there are likely to be extreme periods of hot weather in south and south east Europe, whereas in northern Europe serious flooding is expected. There have already been examples of these extreme weather conditions. It will be important that policies take into account the diverse nature of these weather conditions across the EU water industry. First, there is the investment required to bring the whole community up to the standards required by EU legislation. Second, there will need to be additional funding to deal with the full effects, not yet known, of climate change. Water charges are increasing.

Regarding ownership, most of the EU water industry is owned and administered by municipalities, either on their own or in the form of two or more forming a company. Private companies may be contracted to undertake water services work. In some countries, they play a more significant role — an extreme case being that in England and Wales, where all water activities are privatised. Private-equity firms are making acquisitions in the private sector, a trend that is not universally welcomed.

For future development, attention will have to be given to greater availability of information and statistics on the water cycle, to enable planning activities to take place. An integrated approach to water management will be needed to take into account the needs of key economic sectors, such as agriculture, construction, and coastline and leisure activities. Co-ordination on policy and legislation will be needed to ensure that activities in one aspect of the water industry will not have a detrimental effect on others or result in scarcity of water, i.e. insufficient water resources to satisfy long-term average water requirements. This is currently being studied by the European Commission. Legislation will focus on the implementation of existing laws but, in the future, further legislation could be introduced to mitigate the effects of climate change.

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US demand to exceed $8 billion in 2012 : Food and beverage additive demand is projected to exceed $8 billion in 2012. Growth will be prompted by greater use of additives to improve finished product quality and to control costs, as well as by fast growth of newer food and beverage products, such as enhanced and flavored waters. Newer additives, such as PGPR, an emulsifier used in chocolate, have been adopted as cost-cutting moves; moves which can be controversial. Consumers are often wary of foods and beverages containing artificial-sounding ingredients, and generally favor natural flavors, colors and other additives. This favors clean label ingredients such as natural flavors, herbal extracts, mineral additives and probiotics. Some product categories, such as texturizers, seem less scrutinized, while others, such as highintensity sweeteners, continue to generate controversy. In addition, concerns about the safety of products from China — following incidents involving tainted pet food additives, pharmaceutical products and consumer goods — will also influence consumer behavior.

Nutraceuticals to record robust growth
Nutraceuticals, including minerals, vitamins, herbal extracts and probiotics, will register strong gains as they expand their presence beyond traditional applications like breakfast cereals, bread and juices into a wide variety of other foods and beverages. Recent introductions include candy, soft drinks, desserts and snack foods fortified with vitamins and minerals, water containing vitamins and herbal extracts and a variety of foods containing probiotics. Not only does the incorporation of nutraceuticals provide a strong marketing advantage, but it also helps increase sales as consumers feel better about the products they purchase.

Grain mill, dairy products to fortify food additive gains
Grain mill products will present strong opportunities for growth, especially as the popularity of low-carb diets continues to wane. Fortified breakfast cereals have long been a mainstay of the industry, but other products — such as dessert mixes and beverages — are expected to become more substantial markets for nutraceutical additives. In addition, dog and cat foods will remain a major outlet for functional and nutritional additives. The dairy market for additives will also offer growth potential, as probiotic ingredients expand beyond their traditional application in yogurt products and alternative sweeteners such as polyols continue to expand their market presence.

Soft drinks slump; sports drinks, bottled water soar
Carbonated soft drinks have long been the largest market for beverage additives, and will remain so. However, a slumping soft drink market offers less upside for additive producers than faster growing segments of the beverage market. Sports drinks and energy drinks are expected to offer greater opportunity for growth, although they will remain much smaller than the traditional soft drink segment. Bottled water, more specifically flavored and enhanced waters, is expected to offer among the most stellar opportunities for growth. Although these products typically feature lower loadings of flavors, colors and sweeteners, flavored and enhanced waters constitute one of the fastest growing segments of the beverage market, as consumers seek a more healthful alternative to soft drinks.

Study coverage
Key information about the US food and beverage additive industry, the various product types and market segments which use them are found in Food & Beverage Additives.Historical data (1997, 2002, 2007) plus forecasts (2012, 2017) are provided in terms of dollar demand by product type and application. The study also assesses market share and profiles more than 30 industry players.

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As a whole, the UK market for soft drinks is large and mature, and It estimates that it was worth £9.18bn at retail selling prices (rsp) in 2005, a rise of 3.1% on 2004. Within this market, carbonated soft drinks were worth an estimated £5.1bn at rsp, and concentrated soft drinks were worth an estimated £600m at rsp. Both of these types of soft drink have lost share of the total market, in which fruit juices, fruit-based drinks and bottled water have shown the strongest growth in recent years.

The problem for carbonates and concentrates, or `fizzy pop’ and `squash’, is that they do not carry the healthy-drinking message that consumers associate with water or pure juice. However, both categories are backed by large, innovative companies — including Coca-Cola and PepsiCo — and these suppliers continue to produce attractive `line extensions’ with a healthy and exciting appeal, particularly to young people. Examples of these extensions are Diet Coke with Lime, Pepsi Max Twist, Ribena Really Light and Robinsons Summer Fruits.

Coca-Cola, the world’s largest consumer brand, is sold in the UK by Coca-Cola Enterprises Ltd, which also markets leading fruit carbonates such as Fanta and Sprite, mixers such as Schweppes and several other drinks categories. (A peculiarity of the UK market is that the largest indigenous soft drinks company, Cadbury Schweppes, has not competed since 1997, under a territorial agreement with Coca-Cola.) Second to Coca-Cola Enterprises is Britvic Soft Drinks Ltd, partly because it markets the PepsiCo range, but also because it has many strong indigenous brands, such as Tango (fruit carbonate) and Robinsons (the leading squash brand).

Within carbonates, the `energy’ category has shown strong growth, led by Lucozade and Red Bull. Like many modern brands, Lucozade and Red Bull are carefully targeted as `functional’ drinks — for sports participants or `clubbers’ — and the targeting of adults has become widespread as more people consume soft drinks instead of tea, coffee or alcohol.

Future growth will be more difficult to achieve for carbonates and concentrates, but there is always room for innovation as a result of the power of the multinationals, as well as the sheer number of distribution channels. The market for take-home drinks is driven by the powerful multiple grocers, with their vast aisles of drinks, and the many catering and `impulse’ outlets for carbonates, which include pubs, fast-food restaurants, petrol stations and vending machines in leisure venues.

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