Highland Spring now Britain's favourite bottled water
... overtaking Evian as the nation's favourite, and becoming the first British brand to top UK sellers.
The water company Highland Spring sold 200m litres last year, up 9% on 2011, and pushed Evian into second place, followed by Buxton, Volvic and Nestle Pure Life, market researchers Zenith discovered.
A thirsty nation knocked back 2.14bn litres of bottled water in 2012, up 3.3%, with nearly nine out of 10 choosing still water and the rest sparkling.
It caps a remarkable rise for Highland Spring, based in Blackford, Perthshire, and owned by the Al-Tajir family, originally from Dubai. Maher Mahdi Al Tajir is now ranked as Scotland's richest man with an estimated £1.5bn.
Employing 400 workers at five bottling plants in Scotland and Wales, the company said revenues were £86.4m in 2012, up from £86.4m a year earlier. (huh?)
Les Montgomery, chief executive of the company, said: "European brands have long dominated the UK bottled water category, having played a pivotal role in its development in the 1970s, but I believe we are seeing a sustained wave of support for British brands."
Bottled water sales in the UK hit £1.5bn last year, with those aged 25 to 34 the biggest consumers. A recent report by Mintel said sales were likely to hit £2bn by 2016.
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