'Water War' Intensifies... Samdasoo's Dominance Shaken... Lotte and Nongshim in Hot Pursuit

[Financial News] With the increase of single-person households and abnormal weather conditions such as droughts and heatwaves, the domestic bottled water market is rapidly growing, intensifying the 'water war' for market dominance. With a domestic market share of 40%, Jeju Samdasoo is the industry leader, but 60 other companies, including the second and third-ranked Lotte Chilsung Beverage and Nongshim, are entering the competition, showing signs of overheating. 
According to the industry on the 9th, Jeju Special Self-Governing Province Development Corporation is in the final stages of negotiations for the 'Jeju Samdasoo consignment sales contract' with Kwangdong Pharmaceutical, which was selected as the preferred negotiation partner at the end of July. The consignment sales volume is estimated to be around 400 billion KRW.
If the main contract is concluded, Kwangdong Pharmaceutical will acquire the sales rights for Samdasoo in all distribution channels nationwide, except Jeju, from next year until 2029. Previously, 11 companies, including Kwangdong Pharmaceutical, Pulmuone Foods, Dongwha Pharm, and Binggrae, participated in the bidding for the consignment sales rights, engaging in fierce competition.
Jeju Samdasoo holds a 40.3% market share in the domestic bottled water industry, ranking first. It is followed by Lotte Chilsung Beverage's Icis with 13.1% and Nongshim's Baeksansu with 8.3%. These three companies account for about 60% of the entire bottled water market. In addition to the top three companies, the number of domestic bottled water manufacturers reached 59 last year, with 210 brands, including Dongwon F&B (Dongwon Spring Water), Ourhome (Jirisan Water), Orion (Jeju Lava Water), and Pulmuone Spring Water. 
The domestic bottled water market has grown more than fivefold in 10 years. In 2014, it was about 600 billion KRW, but as of last year, the market size expanded to 3.1716 trillion KRW. The main water sources are in Yeoncheon, Pocheon/Yangju, China Baekdusan Naeducheon, Gangwon Cheorwon/Pyeongchang, Chungbuk Goesan, Gyeongbuk Sangju, Gyeongnam Sancheong, and Jeju Jocheon.
The rapid growth of the domestic bottled water market is attributed to the increase in single-person households and the expansion of e-commerce delivery services. According to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's '2025 Administrative Safety Statistics Yearbook', the number of single-person households exceeded 10 million for the first time last year, reaching 10,122,587 households. They account for 42.0% of the total households (24,118,928 households).
A food industry official said, "The increase in single-person households and growing interest in convenience and health have expanded the bottled water market." According to a survey conducted by Gallup Korea on over 2,000 people, 59.5% of single-person households use bottled water, while 24.2% use water purifiers.
The pursuit of the top-ranked Jeju Samdasoo by second and third-ranked companies like Lotte Chilsung Beverage and Nongshim, as well as newcomers like Pulmuone and Dongwon F&B, is also intense.
In the case of Nongshim, it is pushing for a brand relaunch of Baeksansu, celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Baeksansu new factory (2015) operation and surpassing 1 trillion KRW in cumulative sales this year. It plans to expand sales by emphasizing quality in Korea and exploring demand in China, where its production plant is located.
Nongshim's Baeksansu, launched in December 2012, surpassed 1.1 trillion KRW in cumulative sales in the first half of this year, approximately 12 years after its launch. From its launch until last year, Baeksansu's compound annual growth rate (CAGR) was about 16%.
Lotte Chilsung Beverage is strengthening its eco-friendly management by introducing 'Icis 8.0 ECO', the first domestic bottled water brand to remove labels from PET bottle bodies. Dongwon F&B is building the Seolseong Plant, a drinking water production base, and Pulmuone is acquiring the bottled water manufacturer Saemsoseul, exploring various strategies to secure market competitiveness.
An industry official said, "With the increase in single-person households and abnormal weather conditions like droughts and heatwaves, the bottled water market is growing, and food companies are expanding their bottled water business as part of their business expansion."
ssuccu@fnnews.com Kim Seoyeon Reporter