Bottled Drinking Water Industry Undergoes Total Transformation, New Generation Determines the Winner

For decades, the bottled drinking water industry in Indonesia has proceeded almost in one direction. AQUA has become the primary standard and has strongly dominated the market. In 2006, AQUA’s market share reached 92.7%, making it almost without significant competitors in the minds of consumers.

However, that dominance has slowly begun to erode with the emergence of new players. Changes in choices for packaged water are not only triggered by increasingly tight competition, but also by shifts in consumer demographics. Generation X grew up in an era when AQUA was almost the only dominant brand. Brand loyalty was formed through habits that lasted for years. But subsequent generations, such as Millennials and Gen Z, do not have the same emotional experience.

Amid these changes, Le Minerale has arrived as an aggressive new challenger. This brand emerged in the late 2010s and has successfully leveraged the characteristics of young consumers who are more open to new alternatives.