Apprently a new trend that is emerging is doing away with the snobby bottled water we’ve all become accustomed to. A number of restaurants in San Francisco are now bottling their own filtered and carbonated tap water. It’s all about being sustainable and saving money on overseas shipment costs.
According to data from the International Bottled Water Association, bottled water in 2003 became the second-largest American beverage category. As soda sales stagnated, bottled water sales took off. Total U.S. consumption rose nearly 60 percent between 2001 and 2006.
How are they selling this to the snobs and water connoisseurs? They’re saying they “prize the earth and their customers’ values more than profits.” The problem is that bottled water has come to be a status indicator. You look cheap asking for tap water. Lemon? Let’s pay $12 a bottle for Voss (said to be the purest water from Norway). No thanks. Maybe now that tap water comes in a bottle you won’t look like a loser anymore.
