What a $5 price wall in water tells us about premium brands

BeverageDaily recently featured a pricing test we ran out of curiosity. We wanted to see what happens when you put one of the most hyped beverage brands of recent years, Liquid Death, side by side with something as plain as unbranded bottled water.

Brand equity buys you a premium, but only up to a point

Liquid Death commands a clear $1 premium. Nearly three-quarters of U.S. consumers are willing to pay $2.99 for the tallboy can, versus $1.99 for a generic bottle. This is brand equity at work. Packaging, positioning, and cultural relevance reshaping willingness to pay.

But the same study revealed a hard stop: beyond $5, demand collapsed. That is a price wall. No matter how iconic a brand becomes, these thresholds exist.

Why this matters for beverages

• Retailers are underpricing premium products. At $2.29, most stores capture only a fraction of the potential revenue. Even modest adjustments could lift topline results without hurting volume.
• Premium does not mean limitless. Lifestyle branding stretches willingness to pay, but every product has a ceiling.
• Price walls are predictable. With demand data, businesses can see exactly where revenue peaks and where it falls off a cliff.
  

Beyond Liquid Death

The lesson is broader than bottled water. Whether it’s RTD tea, functional beverages, or alcohol-free beer, the same pattern applies. Brand equity matters most in the middle of the curve, but it will not protect you from overpricing at the top.

The BeverageDaily piece captured it well: Liquid Death shows how far packaging and positioning can stretch value perception. But it also shows that price walls are not theoretical. They are measurable, visible, and strategic.

Read the full BeverageDaily feature

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