A Swell in 2 Firms’ Bottled Water...

A Swell in 2 Firms’ Bottled Water Sales

Sales of some Southern California bottled water brands are surging like the fizzy gush from an uncorked champagne bottle.

Drinking water is among the supplies the Federal Emergency Management Agency recommends that consumers keep on hand in case any computer problems related to the calendar’s change lead to shortages. The guidelines suggest a three-day supply, but apparently some shoppers are going beyond that.

“We figure each person is buying three times what they normally would,” said Sue Duran, vice president for sales at Palomar Mountain Spring Water in Corona, where orders in the middle two weeks of the month were up 53% from the same period a year ago. Workers bottled water at the company plant for two weeks before Christmas without a single day off to meet the demand, Duran said.

Retail sales and home-delivery orders for Pasadena-based McKesson Water Products Co.’s Sparkletts brand also swelled in December, marking a quarter of record growth, said marketing vice president Gary Lamont. Sales of one- and 2.5-gallon bottles grew three times faster from October to December this year over the same period a year ago. “People just want to be prepared,” Lamont said.