By Mark Seavy  

Bottled and canned water brands are finding themselves at the confluence of several trends in the health and wellness space, including a focus on better for you ingredients and a move away from microplastics. Yet the market is relatively untapped for licensing. 

PepsiCo’s Aquafina, which launched in 1994, has found its way into licensed lip balms and cosmetics. Danone, which acquired the Evian brand as BSN Group in 1970, launched a collaboration with fashion brand Balmain that produced a co-branded glass bottle and couture gown in 2022. And Liquid Death has been focused on expanding its brand, recently taking booth space at Licensing Expo in Las Vegas and signing deals for a range of products, including cosmetic face masks with ESW Beauty.  

Yet outbound licensing for bottled water has to some extent been flat despite a global market that was valued at $378 billion in 2025, according to Straits Research. The Asia Pacific region accounts for 43% of sales, and the market is projected to grow to as much as $498 – $725 billion by 2034, depending on the firm making the forecast. 

Part of the reason for that broad forecast is the wide range of brands. Private label, for example, accounts for about 25% of bottled water sales at U.S. grocery, according to analysts. 

Coca-Cola Co.’s Smartwater, which it acquired in buying Energy Brands in 2007, has the top U.S. market share followed by Primo Water Corp.’s Poland Spring and Pure Life labels as well as PepsiCo’s Aquafina, according to research firm Statista. Coca-Cola also launched Dasani in 1999 to rival PepsiCo’s Aquafina, which has been a sponsor at many sporting events. 

Primo (Mountain Valley, Saratoga, Chrystal Springs) itself merged with private equity-owned BlueTriton (Poland Spring, Deer Park) in 2024. And this doesn’t include dozens of other brands that have recently emerged as the water market evolved to also include “functional beverages” with electrolytes and other minerals like Unilever’s Liquid I.V. (powder) and All Market Inc.’s Vita Coco (coconut water). 

“We compete in an attractive category and continue to benefit from strong tailwinds in health and wellness and hydration,” said Eric Foss, CEO of Primo. “It’s highly penetrated, frequently purchased, and among the fastest-growing categories within liquid refreshment beverages.” 

In addition to that high penetration (per capita consumption was 47 gallons in 2024 and consumption expanded 4% between 2021 and 2022), the bottled water market has also produced a new round of luxury brands that are focused on a more niche consumer demographic. 

That is a category once home to Evian, Perrier, and others, but that is now being filled by the likes of Loonen, a brand that hits lifestyle marks by being bottled at a spring in Southern California with stainless steel filtration as well as boasting natural minerals like Celtic sea salt, magnesium, potassium, and calcium. 

Loonen is packaged in a glass carafe, which can be recycled, and its upscale design has been captured in photos posted to social media by the likes of pop star Dua Lipa and reality TV star Lisa Rinna. Similarly, The Wonderful Co.’s Fiji brand stood out due to its square container while Mountain Valley’s green glass has been popular with the likes of rapper Jay-Z and actress Gweneth Paltrow. Additionally, alkaline-based water and other luxury brands like One Water Global and Litewater have recently shared space at fashion shows. 

“Once plain water became suspect, it became a category you could charge a premium to solve,” Jenna Movsowitz, co-founder of Substack newsletter Express Checkout, told the Wall Street Journal. 

Yet that premium, especially for licensing, also takes some brand building. ESW, for example, signed with Liquid Death both for its widely known brand and the fact that it was water, a core ingredient in a hydration mask, said Francesca O’Donnell, Head of Sales at ESW. 

“It made complete sense because it already had the element we needed and a brand name that was widely recognized, which would give us more exposure,” O’Donnell said. “That is really the key to expanding your brand’s reach at a relatively low marketing cost.”