Over the past few years, seltzer has spiked in popularity. LaCroix alone has climbed from selling $65 million worth of sparkling water a year to $226 million, but one newcomer is poised to threaten its status as people's go-to summertime (or well, anytime) drink.
Target started selling a line of flavored sparkling water through its in-house brand, Simply Balanced, a couple years ago. In 2016, the sparkling water category generated the greatest year-over-year gain of any grocery category, a spokesperson said, so the bullseye brand decided to expand its line, offering six new flavors: black cherry, grapefruit, lemon, lime, raspberry blackberry, and watermelon. All six are in stores now, along with its original four (ginger peach, tropical cherry, citrus and cucumber mint).
All 10 flavors come in tall, slim bottles — much like LaCroix's Curate line — and are sold in 8-packs for $2.99. That's almost a dollar less than the price we found for a similar pack of Curates, which come in flavors like cherry lime, pineapple strawberry, and apple berry. Oh, and both brands' flavors clock in at zero calories.
At that price point — and given how ubiquitous Target stores are nationwide — this new sparkling water line could chip away at LaCroix's market share. It's too soon to tell whether Simply Balanced will steal the throne, or if any of the six new flavors will usurp Simply Balanced's Ginger Peach as Target's most popular flavor. Guess we'll have to pop a seltzer, sit back, and watch how it all plays out.
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