sportFACHHANDEL 03_2017 Leseprobe

26 | BRANDS | Outdoor 03.2017
GSI promises
easy handling
and nice
colours.
Camelbak focuses on
combined solutions.
THE FACTS
Innovations
including
environmentally
friendly technologies
have
pushed the
segment from
the niche.
Outdoor drinking
bottles are
in great demand
throughout the
whole year.
Brands offer
various opportunities
at POS.
of the end customers’ ethical standards and to focus
even stronger on quality. We intensively attend
to the specialised trade with regard to the presentation
at the PSO, order and re-order. Our trade
marketing team ensures that the realisation for the
customer is easy. Thanks to our own warehouse in
Frauenfeld, we are able to fulfil short-termed wishes
and, of course, re-orders are no problem.”
Sandra Rückewold thinks that the brand’s innovativeness
opens up various opportunities. “In the
collection of 2017, we offer the whole range of materials.
We expanded the selection of plastic bottles,
for example with the first squeezable bottle by Sigg,
the Hero, with new sports closure. A further highlight
is the Miracle. It features a special bottle cap
which ensures hygienic and leak-proof transport
and with it, the user is able to individually adjust
the drinking quantity at the touch of a button.”
Edi Kaiser, Sales Manager Europe of Camelbak,
focuses on the specialised trade, too. “In general,
the business goes very well. We are currently registering
double-digit growth. The level of awareness
for the categories bottles/travel mugs and drinking
backpacks is increasing in Europe. We hardly
experience seasonal fluctuations, since drinking
bottles are classic all-season products. The sales of
aluminium bottles are decreasing at present, but
we are able to record additional growth in the sales
of insulated mugs from stainless steel. At present,
we are not facing any risks. On the contrary, there
are plenty of opportunities. The average price of
drinking bottles is rising and the increased awareness
as regards drinking behaviour is beneficiary
for us. Furthermore, we are able to offer a solution
for the topic softeners in plastic with our BPA-free
products. Other hot topics are sustainability and
to-go cups which we answer with our functional
insulated mugs.” He requests the sports goods
retailers to make high-quality products more visible
at the POS. “Premium drinking bottles are a serious
category. The drinking bottle segment is always
able to rely on NOS and we can react very quickly.
We offer the suitable merchandising fixtures and
POS materials which are tuned to our products.
This business is driven by innovations. As inventor
of the hydration bladder, we revised our proven
product and guarantee perfect hydration with the
new Crux reservoir.”
The market shares of the American supplier
Hydro Flask (see also interview) are constantly
increasing. The brand offers double-walled bottles
from stainless steel with high-quality vacuum
insulation. The mission of the company, founded in
2009 in Bend, Oregon, is to “protect the world from
lukewarm drinks”. The drinking bottles, coffee cups
and food containers made from food-safe 18/8 prograde
stainless steel are produced without BPA and
toxic substances. They are 100 percent recyclable
and come with lifetime warranty. The Wide Mouth
Flex Cap, introduced in spring 2016, won two
design awards, the iF Design Award and the Red
Dot Design Award. As of spring 2017, the Flex Cap
is available as Standard Mouth too. The slimmer
Standard Mouth version features the Insulated
Sports Cap that can be operated with one hand for
quick hydration on the go. Thanks to the Temp-
Shield vacuum insulation, beverages stay icy cold
for up to 24 hours and really hot for up to six hours.
The tasteless 18/8 stainless food steel of the Hydro
Flask products has the best quality and guarantees
pure, unadulterated taste – no matter whether hot
or cold.
Nevertheless, other brands, originated in the outdoor
trade, such as Primus, are rapidly capturing
the general sports shops at present. The supplier expanded
its range of insulated mugs made from powder-coated
stainless steel with a filling capacity of
0.3 litres. In spring 2017, GSI Outdoor expands its
range with the ultra-lightweight Glacier Stainless
Microlite insulated bottle that is supposed to set
new standards with regard to low weight. The bottle
is extremely well insulated, GSI achieves this with
a high-quality vacuum system in a bottle with only
two millimetres thick walls from food-safe 18/8
stainless steel. The high-grade steel of the silver
bottle is only brushed, the coloured versions feature
an eco-friendly, non-slip powder coating. The bottle
cap features a sophisticated design – it fits tightly,
but can be opened with one hand. Thanks to a silicon
stopper and a sealing ring in the cap, the bottle
is absolutely leak-proof. The rubberized bottom
improves the stability. Whether everyday life or
leisure time, whether summer or winter, the Glacier
Stainless Microlite is a reliable partner which you
want to take with your wherever you go.
Numerous retailers have early recognised the
opportunities offered by this category and provide
professional products and services, among them
running and cycling specialists, outdoor retailers
and full-range providers with well-trained eyes and
senses. The Sporthaus Göpfert in Dresden offers
bottles at a retail price from 11 Euro to 45 Euro.
According to the sports retailer, it is important
to offer bottles for everyone. It can be tedious to
convince end consumers of higher prices, caused
by the considerably improved quality. However, it
is worth the effort. Retailers as well as producers
underline that the profit varies with the season,
because drinking bottles are no longer a “take-away
product”, but technically sophisticated equipment
for sports and leisure time. The cheap drinking vessels
of the discount chains or coffee houses are not
able to compete with the price/performance ratio of
the brand products. The market seems to promise
good business, at least at the short time. However,
the producers have to play their part to ensure that
the market will remain healthy.