Made in italy

Mineral waters, best export of the entire food & beverage sector: +28.5%.

Turnover for manufacturers rose to 3.5 billion. Eight large groups control 69% of the entire market

by Alessio Romeo

9 June 2025

I consumi pro capite di acqua minerale sono saliti da 248 a 259 litri e le marche di acque sugli scaffali della grande distribuzione da 230 a 240

3' min read

Key points

Usa leads in mineral water exports
Mineracqua: discounters on the rise and out-of-home declining
Filtration 'competition'
The risk of tariffs

3' min read

The mineral water sector ended 2024 with growing production, turnover and consumption, at an all-time high after the setback of 2023, but it was above allexports that shone with the best performance of the entire food&beverage sector, +28.5% to over 1.4 billion. Producers' turnover rose from 3.3 to 3.5 billion (+6%), the trade balance from 1.66 to 1.73 billion (+4.2%) andper capita consumption rose from 248 to 259 litres.
The number of bottling units also increased (from 130 to 133) and the number of packaged water brands on the shelves of large-scale retailers (from 230 to 240), with the top eight groups (San Benedetto, San Pellegrino, Sant'Anna, Ferrarelle, Uliveto/Rocchetta, Lete, Refresco and San Bernardo) controlling 69% of the market (it was 70% in 2023).

The increase in the value of exports, the most pronounced as mentioned of the Italian food industry (and coming after the +20.9% in 2023), was more than double the growth in volumes (+12.9%), confirming a further positive element: the appreciation (well above inflation) of the unit value of the product on the international market.

Usa leads in mineral water exports

The United States is confirmed as the main outlet market for Italian mineral water with an export value of 476.7 million (+28.5%), followed by France with 158.7 million, Germany (90.4) and the United Kingdom (84). Overall, the EU market with the UK is worth just under 500 million and grew last year by 20% as far as the 27 are concerned, while sales across the Channel almost tripled, demonstrating the strong demand for Italian mineral waters in Europe as well.

This year, the arrival of warm weather, in a consumer dynamic that affects the entire beverage sector, is set to revive consumption that is still stagnant, while certain trends that have emerged in recent years are confirmed.

Mineracqua: discounters on the rise and out-of-home declining

"In 2024," explains Ettore Fortuna, Vice-President of Mineracqua, the Confindustria Federation representing natural mineral and spring water companies, "the discount channel has grown much more, this means that the spending capacity has reduced, people are more careful, and the trend is being confirmed in 2025. Seasonality is still holding back consumption, retail is doing well while it is out-of-home consumption that is declining a bit for all beverages. But this is not a problem because we expect a recovery, our consumer before changing mineral water changes insurance...'. The growth in values, recorded despite the focus on spending, was, he explains, also "an effect of the list price revision policy carried out together with the large-scale retail trade".

The filtration 'competition'

What is worrying, on the other hand, is the continuous increase in devices for filtering water for consumption, both in homes but especially in bars and restaurants. A growth, the association denounces, that should be subject to greater control by health authorities.

"The catering industry should be our first sponsor and instead, somewhat out of fashion and also out of a misunderstood sense of sustainability, it makes a false ideological choice, because it saves on warehouses and refrigeration costs, and then charges for filtered water like mineral water" without considering, adds Fortuna, that "to make one litre of micro-filtered or treated water, another two litres of water are wasted".
This is why the association is promoting a communication campaign, with the slogan 'good catering begins with mineral water', to spread the culture of quality, transparency and safety in eating out: 'In addition to the hygiene and health aspects,' says Fortuna, 'there is an issue of transparency towards the consumer: those sitting at the table have the right to know exactly what they are being served.

The Tariffs Risk

On tariffs, Mineracqua's vice-president concludes, 'the US market is very lucrative, but I believe that if an American is willing to pay $5 for a litre of Italian mineral water, perhaps he will pay $6, because he recognises that product as part of Made in Italy. We shall see. In any case, we are used to not dramatising, as happened with the caps, a measure that is an expression of the ideology of European decision-makers: 80% of the bottles that end up in separate waste collection have a cap that must be separated. Italy is the country that makes the lightest bottles in Europe, the market has grown by 40% in 10 years but the plastic has remained the same, paradoxically now with the cap attached we add more plastic. Then there is a cost problem: according to the Sup directive we have to put in 25 per cent recycled plastic, which costs double the EUR 900 per tonne of 'virgin' plastic, and this is a cost that is clearly passed on to the end consumer'.