Mineral water company Spadel, known in the Netherlands for Spa water, was able to increase its sales last year. But this was mainly due to price increases, the quantity of bottles sold decreased in the Benelux. CEO Marc du Bois says times are tough in the bottled water world right now.
Last year, life in general became considerably more expensive, causing consumers to pay more attention to their spending. A product such as mineral water then lends itself to economising. Du Bois emphasizes that Spadel has still managed to show “very good growth” in all markets where the company is active.
In the Netherlands, where the bottled water market in a broad sense is under pressure, sales growth was 2 percent. In Belgium, turnover increased by almost 9 percent, in France by 7 percent and in Bulgaria by more than 16 percent. Across the board, revenues grew by just under 8 percent to around 346 million euros.
Partly thanks to the price increases, margins managed to recover somewhat. In 2022, the company saw those margins decline sharply due to a sharp increase in raw material and energy prices. The Belgian company’s net profit ultimately more than doubled last year to over 28 million euros.
Du Bois points out that his company is constantly trying to adapt to changing consumer trends, whether it concerns different packaging or different flavors, for example. According to him, this is how he can gain market share. “These strong assets make me optimistic about the further development of the group in the coming months and years, even if the current context continues to call for caution.”
Spadel is mainly concerned about an increasing tax burden in Belgium, including due to new so-called ‘litter’ taxes. “The impact of these new taxes will be very significant in Belgium and will likely encourage even more Belgians to cross the border for cheaper products.”
