Should Your Restaurant Buy Bottled Sparkling Water or Make It In-House?
Should Your Restaurant Buy Bottled Sparkling Water or Make It In-House?
Bottled sparkling water is familiar, convenient and easy to serve — but is it always the most practical option for a restaurant?
For restaurants that serve sparkling water regularly, there is another option worth considering: producing sparkling water in-house using a commercial sparkling water dispenser.
Instead of purchasing, transporting and storing individual bottles, an in-house system can provide filtered sparkling water on demand from a single dispensing system.
So which option makes more sense for your restaurant?
The answer depends on your volume, available space, operating model and customer experience.
Let's compare the two.
Bottled Sparkling Water vs In-House Sparkling Water
At first glance, bottled sparkling water seems like the simpler choice.
You order bottles, store them and serve them to customers.
But once sparkling water becomes a regular part of your beverage service, several additional costs and operational considerations can appear.
| Bottled Sparkling Water | In-House Sparkling Water | |
|---|---|---|
| Product storage | Requires bottle storage | Minimal bottle storage |
| Delivery | Regular bottle deliveries | Water supplied through existing connection |
| Staff handling | Bottles need to be moved and stored | Dispensed directly |
| Packaging | Individual bottles | Reduced reliance on individual bottles |
| Inventory | Need to monitor bottle stock | Manage filters and CO₂ |
| Presentation | Branded bottles | Dispensed into suitable glassware |
| Flexibility | Limited to bottle sizes | Produce according to demand |
| Equipment | No dedicated equipment | Requires commercial dispenser |
| Maintenance | Mainly stock management | Filter/CO₂ management and equipment care |
Neither option is automatically better for every restaurant.
The key is understanding how each model fits your operation.
1. The Hidden Cost of Bottled Sparkling Water
When comparing bottled and in-house sparkling water, it's easy to focus only on the price per bottle.
But the actual cost of bottled sparkling water can include much more.
Think about the complete process:
Purchase → Delivery → Storage → Refrigeration → Staff handling → Service → Empty bottle collection → Disposal
For a restaurant serving sparkling water every day, these activities can add up.
Consider:
- How much are you paying per bottle?
- How many bottles do you use each day?
- How much storage space do they occupy?
- How often are deliveries required?
- How much staff time is spent moving bottles?
- What happens to empty bottles?
- Do you need additional refrigeration space?
The more sparkling water your restaurant serves, the more relevant these questions become.
2. How Much Sparkling Water Does Your Restaurant Actually Use?
This is probably the most important question.
For example, imagine a restaurant serving:
20 bottles of sparkling water per day.
That's approximately:
600 bottles per month.
Over a year, that's approximately:
7,300 bottles.
Now consider your actual cost per bottle, plus the operational effort involved in storing, handling and disposing of them.
If your restaurant serves significantly more than this, it may be worth evaluating an in-house system.
Of course, every restaurant's economics will be different.
That's why we recommend calculating your actual sparkling-water consumption before making a decision.
3. Storage Space Is an Often-Overlooked Cost
Restaurant space is valuable.
Every case of bottled water needs somewhere to go.
You may need space for:
- Unopened bottles
- Chilled bottles
- Empty bottles
- Packaging
- Delivery stock
For smaller restaurants, cafés and bars, storage can become particularly challenging.
An in-house sparkling water dispenser changes the equation.
Instead of storing hundreds of individual bottles, the restaurant can produce sparkling water when required.
This can help reduce the amount of space dedicated to bottled sparkling water inventory.
4. What About Staff Time?
Bottles don't move themselves.
Someone needs to:
- Receive the delivery
- Move the bottles
- Store them
- Transfer them to the refrigerator
- Bring them to the service area
- Clear empty bottles
- Manage recycling or disposal
None of these tasks necessarily appears on the restaurant's beverage cost spreadsheet.
But they still consume staff time.
With an in-house dispensing system, the process can be simpler:
Filtered water → Carbonation → Dispensing → Glass
The restaurant still needs to manage the equipment properly, but the day-to-day handling of individual bottles can potentially be reduced.
5. What About the Customer Experience?
This is where restaurants need to think beyond cost.
For some restaurants, the bottle itself is part of the experience.
A premium bottled-water brand may fit perfectly with the restaurant's concept.
In other restaurants, the focus may be on:
- Freshness
- Minimalism
- Sustainability
- Table presentation
- Operational efficiency
An in-house sparkling water system allows sparkling water to be served directly into appropriate glassware.
For restaurants that want a more streamlined beverage presentation, this can be an attractive option.
6. Does In-House Sparkling Water Mean More Work?
Not necessarily — but it does mean a different type of management.
A commercial sparkling water system requires proper:
- Filtration
- CO₂ management
- Cleaning
- Maintenance
- Filter replacement
- Equipment care
This is why restaurants should look beyond the initial machine price.
When comparing systems, ask the supplier:
What does ongoing ownership involve?
- How often do filters need replacing?
- How is CO₂ supplied?
- What maintenance is required?
- Who handles servicing?
- What happens if the system stops working?
- What are the ongoing consumable costs?
A cheaper machine isn't necessarily cheaper to operate.
7. Could In-House Sparkling Water Reduce Bottle Waste?
For restaurants that currently serve large quantities of individually packaged sparkling water, moving to an in-house system can reduce the number of bottles purchased and disposed of.
Instead of:
One customer → One bottle
the restaurant can dispense sparkling water according to actual demand.
This can be particularly relevant for businesses looking to reduce packaging associated with beverage service.
However, the environmental impact of any system depends on factors such as water usage, electricity consumption, CO₂ supply, filter replacement and equipment lifespan.
The best approach is to evaluate your restaurant's actual usage rather than assuming one solution is automatically more sustainable.
8. When Does an In-House Sparkling Water System Make Sense?
An in-house system may be worth considering if your restaurant:
✓ Serves sparkling water regularly
The more frequently you serve sparkling water, the greater the potential operational benefit.
✓ Has limited storage space
Reducing bottled inventory can free up valuable space.
✓ Wants to reduce bottle handling
Less stock movement can simplify day-to-day operations.
✓ Wants to offer sparkling water on demand
Dispense according to customer demand rather than stocking predetermined bottle quantities.
✓ Is looking for a more integrated beverage solution
Some commercial systems can provide more than sparkling water.
✓ Is reviewing its beverage costs
An in-house system gives you an opportunity to compare your current bottled-water expenditure against the ongoing cost of producing sparkling water.
9. When Might Bottled Sparkling Water Still Be Better?
An in-house system isn't necessarily the right answer for everyone.
Bottled sparkling water may still make sense if:
- You only sell a small number of bottles each month.
- Your customers specifically request certain bottled brands.
- Branded bottles are important to your restaurant concept.
- You don't have a suitable location for a dispenser.
- You prefer not to manage additional equipment.
The right choice depends on your business.
10. A Simple Way to Compare the Two
Before deciding, calculate your current annual bottled-water cost.
Bottled model
Number of bottles per day
× Operating days per year
× Cost per bottle
= Annual bottled-water cost
Then consider:
Storage + delivery + handling + refrigeration + disposal
Compare this against:
In-house model
Equipment cost
Installation
Filters
CO₂
Electricity/water
Maintenance
Then estimate the expected cost per litre or per serving.
This gives you a much more meaningful comparison than simply looking at the price of a bottle versus the price of a dispenser.
11. Introducing SkyDew
For restaurants considering an alternative to bottled sparkling water, SkyDew is designed as an all-in-one commercial sparkling water dispensing solution.
It combines filtered water with sparkling water dispensing in one system, helping businesses provide cold sparkling water on demand without relying entirely on individual bottled sparkling water inventory. There's also cold and hot filtered water from the same machine making it an all-in-one solution.
SkyDew is designed for commercial environments, including:
- Restaurants
- Cafés
- Hotels
- Hospitality venues
- Commercial workplaces
The aim isn't simply to replace a bottle with a machine.
It's to give businesses another way to think about their water service, storage and beverage operations.
The Bottom Line
Should your restaurant buy bottled sparkling water or make it in-house?
There isn't one answer for every restaurant.
If you serve sparkling water occasionally, bottled water may remain the simplest option.
But if your restaurant serves sparkling water every day and in significant quantities, it may be worth looking at an in-house sparkling water system.
The decision should be based on:
Volume + cost + storage + staff handling + customer experience + ongoing equipment costs.
The best place to start is with your own numbers.
How much sparkling water does your restaurant serve every month?
Once you know that, you can determine whether an in-house system is worth investigating.
Considering an In-House Sparkling Water System?
Talk to Tomal Global about whether SkyDew could be suitable for your restaurant or hospitality operation.