---
title: "Suntory's 1L Natural Water Sales Grow 65% in One Year, Just by 'Slimming Down' Its Packaging?"
description: "Suntory's 1L natural water sales grew 165% year-on-year after the company redesigned the packaging from a squat round bottle to a slender square bottle in May 2024. The change was driven by consumer insights showing that 1L water was increasingly being consumed as a single-serve, on-the-go drink rather than a family reserve."
author: "FBIF"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
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published: "2025-09-07"
categories: "Management & Methods"
language: "en"
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original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/D1vTG1WIMseK2EdtZMKkYw"
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citation: "FBIF. “Suntory's 1L Natural Water Sales Grow 65% in One Year, Just by 'Slimming Down' Its Packaging?.” New Distribution, 2025-09-07. https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/suntory-s-1l-natural-water-sales-grow-65-in-one-year-just-by-slimming-do-fa6cd1b0/"
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---

# Suntory's 1L Natural Water Sales Grow 65% in One Year, Just by 'Slimming Down' Its Packaging?

> Suntory's 1L natural water sales grew 165% year-on-year after the company redesigned the packaging from a squat round bottle to a slender square bottle in May 2024. The change was driven by consumer insights showing that 1L water was increasingly being consumed as a single-serve, on-the-go drink rather than a family reserve.

It turns out that in May 2024, Suntory changed the packaging of its 1L natural water from the original squat, round bottle to a slender, square bottle. The slender bottle is easier to grip and more convenient to carry. This update came from changes in consumer hydration needs. According to Suntory, when analyzing purchasing trends, they found that many consumers' purchase scenarios for 1L water were becoming closer to the 'single-serve, immediate consumption' of 550ml bottles, rather than family stockpiling.
Image source: Suntory
This innovation, driven by consumer insight, ultimately won over consumers. One year after the packaging update, sales of Suntory's 1L natural water increased by 165% year-on-year. How exactly did Suntory 'slim down' the packaging? What does the sales growth behind this micro-innovation reflect about changes in consumer demand for drinking water?
Packaging 'Slimming' Leads to Sales Surge: Suntory 'Captures' Consumers' Hidden Needs
The previous generation of Suntory's 1L natural water packaging was a squat, 'five-five body' design. The overall design was a round bottle, with the grip area accounting for about half of the bottle's height, featuring an inward-curved design.
Image source: Suntory
According to Suntory, the original positioning of the 1L natural water was as a 'medium-capacity for families.' However, after analyzing consumer purchasing trends in recent years, Suntory found that the purchase scenario for 1L bottles was increasingly resembling the immediate consumption scenario of 550ml bottles, rather than family stockpiling. Additionally, Suntory learned from actual consumer feedback that 1L water was increasingly becoming the choice for consumers when they wanted to drink a large amount of water. This meant that if the 1L water packaging could be made easier to grip, it could unlock greater market demand.
So, in May 2024, Suntory gave the 1L natural water packaging a 'slimming' treatment. First, the original round bottle was changed to a square bottle. Square bottles have edges and corners, making them easier to grip than round bottles, thus reducing slips. Second, without changing the volume, Suntory made the bottle more slender. From the front cross-section, the bottle's width was reduced from 90mm to 72mm, while the height increased from 230mm to 262mm. The slender shape makes the bottle easier to hold.
Moreover, Suntory also raised the 'waistline' of the new packaging—the proportion of the grip area increased from about half to about two-thirds of the bottle's height. At the same time, Suntory added vertical anti-slip ridges in the grip area. A representative from Suntory's brand marketing department stated that this design was to allow the bottle to better fit the fingers, facilitating direct drinking.
Image source: Suntory
From the promotional photos Suntory displayed, the 'slimmed' 1L natural water appears in many scenarios that were previously exclusive to small bottled water. For example, when picking up children, parents can slip the slender bottle into the side pocket of a backpack, freeing up both hands to hold the child.
Image source: Suntory
For instance, at the gym, while riding a spin bike, the slender bottle can be placed in the bike's water bottle cage.
Image source: Suntory
The easy-grip design also makes it suitable for drinking during outdoor activities.
Image source: Suntory
This change indeed worked. Data shows that in the year after the packaging update, sales of Suntory's 1L natural water increased by 165% year-on-year. Beyond its impact on the consumer market, the slender rectangular bottle design also allowed for more compact packing during shipping, improving loading efficiency. According to Suntory, after the 1L natural water packaging update, the number of boxes loaded per pallet increased from 50 to 60. In 2024, Japan's 'Work Style Reform Related Act' imposed limits on drivers' working hours, leading to a shortage of truck drivers. Improved loading efficiency can help alleviate this issue to some extent.
To Meet Segmented Needs: How Else Can Drinking Water Packaging Innovate?
'Drinking water' is one of the most frequent actions in a person's day. When the basic need for hydration is met, demands for segmented scenarios emerge. Therefore, beyond Suntory Natural Water, more drinking water brands are using micro-innovations in packaging to meet these segmented needs.
Like Suntory Natural Water, C'estbon has also focused on the 'portability' of packaged water, but instead of 'slimming down,' it 'shrunk' the bottle. In July this year, C'estbon launched a 210ml 'pocket-sized' mineral water. The 210ml capacity is less than half of its regular 555ml product.
Image source: C'estbon
Isn't such a small bottle of water gone after a few sips? This product targets 'light hydration' scenarios where consumers need to travel light. In C'estbon's promotional video, the small bottle can fit in a pocket, or be hung on a backpack like a charm alongside a plush toy. When children play soccer, it can be worn like a small 'satchel' across the child's side.
Image source: C'estbon
In sports scenarios, how can one drink water more comfortably? Starting from this segmented need, in March this year, C'estbon launched a 'sports cap' drinking water. Unlike the regular version, this product features a 'snap-off' cap design, making it easy to open with one hand during exercise. Additionally, the silicone valve cap allows for easy sipping, preventing choking during exercise. Through the slogan 'Easy hydration during sports,' C'estbon reinforced the product's association with sports scenarios.
Image source: C'estbon
Large bottled water, which has a relatively lower consumption frequency, also has segmented scenarios to explore. In 2015, Nongfu Spring launched a 'baby water.' This product is called 'baby water' not only because the mineral content is adjusted according to infants' needs, but also because of its asymmetrical packaging design, which is intended to be comfortable for both parents to use.
Image source: Nongfu Spring
From Nongfu Spring's description, 'Mom holds the front, Dad holds the back,' this design takes into account that parents have different palm sizes and thus different 'comfort zones' when pouring water. One package, two grips, allowing parents to better hold the bottle with one hand when preparing formula.
Image source: Nongfu Spring
Sometimes, a handle design can also influence the consumer base of a packaged water product. In 2023, Nongfu Spring launched a 4L drinking water. Today, most of Nongfu Spring's large packaged water products have the 'soft handle loop' designed below the bottle mouth, but this product places the handle on the bottle body and uses a 'rigid handle' design.
Image source: Nongfu Spring
According to Nongfu Spring, this design need came from an elderly person in Langfang, Hebei. In May 2023, the elderly person wrote a letter to Nongfu Spring stating that a handle that had been used for 10 years to assist in pouring water with one hand could no longer be used, and that using the new soft handle loop required both hands to pour water. This need drove the packaging update. In December of that year, Nongfu Spring's 4L drinking water that could be used with one hand was launched.
Sometimes, micro-innovations in drinking water packaging can also expand the use of drinking water beyond just 'drinking.' In April this year, Suntory launched a 'frozen PET bottle' natural water.
Image source: Suntory
Suntory stated that consumers can freeze it in summer and use it as an ice pack, for example, wrapping the bottle in a towel to cool the body outdoors.
Image source: Suntory
However, ordinary PET packaging may expand and deform when frozen, or even be damaged. To address this, Suntory developed a bottle shape that can withstand freezing expansion, allowing it to be placed directly in the freezer. Like Suntory's 1L natural water, the design inspiration for this 'frozen PET bottle' natural water also came from consumer feedback. According to Suntory, compared to 2019, consumer questions about 'whether Suntory natural water can be frozen' have doubled. Starting from consumers' real needs, 'micro' innovations can also unlock 'big' demand.


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## Citation metadata

- Publisher: New Distribution
- Author: FBIF
- Published: 2025-09-07
- Canonical: https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/suntory-s-1l-natural-water-sales-grow-65-in-one-year-just-by-slimming-do-fa6cd1b0/
- Original source: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/D1vTG1WIMseK2EdtZMKkYw

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