According to a new report from Zenith International, 64,000 extra water coolers were installed across west Europe in 2015, marking a 2.3-percent increase. The number of bottled water coolers edged up by 0.1 percent, their first growth since 2006. They now account for 44.9 percent of the market, compared with 43.8 percent in 2014. In east Europe, the water cooler market edged up towards 2.0 million units, a rise of just 0.5 percent over 2014. Sales volumes through bottled water coolers and dispensers/pumps also increased by 0.5 percent. The share of water sales through coolers is now 12.0 percent of total bottled water consumption, compared with just four percent in 1999. In 2015, Russia remained east Europe’s biggest cooler market, followed by Poland and Ukraine. Romania and Poland lead the mains-supplied POU segment, together holding a joint share of 70 percent.
