New and improved…WATER!

Everyone’s looking for the “next big thing.” It could be, that the “next big thing” has been around for a while. Most of the best-selling soft drinks like Coca-Cola, Pepsi and others have been in decline for years. Meanwhile, bottled water sales have gushed.

"It is just water and air. It's so elemental it just drifts into the background," says Barry Joseph, a self-styled seltzer historian and founder of GiveMeSeltzer.com; but Jospeh thinks it may be an idea whose time has come again.

"It works because you don't have to miss the experience of soda," he added. It's carbonated, has no calories, often has no sodium and tastes good, at least to some people.

The mixer category (including ginger ale) accounts for 2.5% of carbonated beverages, per Beverage Digest, Bedford Hills, NY (US). Three-quarters of mixer category sales are dominated by no-name, private label brands. The other quarter is a mix of Canada Dry, Schweppes, Seagram and Vintage. So there is no one premier seltzer brand that focuses on great taste. But taste isn't seltzer's only selling point. It's also pretty cheap and inarguably healthy.

(Source: Brand Week)