Water and wastewater treatment technologies in food processing: $370M by 2010

Yesterday, Frost and Sullivan released a new market forecast for water and wastewater treatment technologies used in food and beverage manufacturing. The answer? It's already a $250M market, and will grow 50% by 2010.

That's only a 7% compound annual growth rate for the industry as a whole, but the study also showed a strong willingness in the industry to look at innovative new solutions and providers:

When respondents were asked whether they would consider a new entrant to the market, around 75.5 percent replied that they would consider such as situation.

That's great news for investors, because it means water technology startups who aim for this market segment may see much better traction and rapid penetration than you could expect to see with water utility customers, a market that takes a longer-term approach and some patience.

One VC-backed company that serves as an example for this space is Novazone, which offers ozone treatment for both water and agricultural/food applications, and is backed by Foundation Capital. In fact, there was a good article earlier in the month about that deal... Another example is one of Expansion Capital Partners' portfolio companies, Biorem, which offers biofiltration for wastewater treatment plants and (I can tell you) has been doing very well. Especially as energy technologies get all the publicity and buzz, there are great investment opportunities to find in water technologies.