US Point of Use Coolers

Abstract

The United States point of use (POU) cooler industry first began to emerge in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Initially, the focus was on areas where mains tap water was considered to be of poor quality, namely southern California, Florida and Texas.

A lack of development in the US POU industry's early years was largely due to the omnipresence of the bottled water cooler. It was not until the 1990s that US POU really began to evolve.

A broad spectrum of companies have now grasped the POU opportunity in the US. These range from specialist POU operators, to vending companies, office equipment companies, water treatment suppliers and bottled water cooler companies (often retaining POU as a defensive measure).

Despite a long history, the highly fragmented nature of the US POU market reinforces the fact that the industry is still very much in its early stages. However, in the past couple of years, greater consolidation has been seen at a distribution level, paving the way for POU distribution operations with much broader geographic scope and the first signs of branding within the industry.

Coupling the benefits of direct cost savings with an 'always-on' supply of water, there is considerable long-term potential for POU in the US. Some distributors feel that ultimately, POU could represent 50% of the total cooler market - bottled water and POU coolers combined - or indeed take a majority share in time.

Tracking the evolution of POU in the US, Zenith's latest report is the only detailed and accurate analysis available on this complex market. It keeps you in touch with all market issues, trends, new initiatives and the market shares of the key players.

Zenith International reports offer you the most reliable market figures and in-depth analysis of trends. This comes from a bottom up approach to the research process, and detailed discussions undertaken with industry players.

The 2006 US Point of Use Coolers report is broken down into 3 main sections:

• 1.A full US market commentary provides an in-depth analysis of trends, covering: POU vs bottled water coolers; national regulations; geographic penetration of POU; industry structure; industry consolidation; residential vs commercial placements; pricing structure; leading POU distributors; and forecasts to 2009.
• 2.Comprehensive tables and charts interrogate the entire US POU market in full. These include: bottled water cooler and point of use market analysis 2004-2006; leading US point of use companies 2006; leading US point of use manufacturers 2006; leading US point of use suppliers 2006; leading US point of use distributors 2006; US and West European point of use characteristics 2006; US and West European point of use revenue indicators 2006; and forecasts of consumption to 2009.
• 3.More than 150 company profiles contain full analysis of leading operators in the US. These profiles include: company category and full contact details; ownership; senior management; cumulative unit placements (mid 2006, by range); areas of operation; POU product range; manufacturer and brands distributed, as available; and full company commentary.