Soft drinks have shown their resilience across the grocery and convenience channels, recording marginal growth in value sales during 2014, according to a review from soft drinks manufacturer Britvic.
Grocery and convenience sales of soft drinks increased by 0.4% to £7.6bn in the last year, “buoyed by major sporting events, a switch of consumer allegiance back to branded goods and demand for healthier propositions”.
The sector performed well against other categories, with tea and instant coffee both recording negative growth over the same period.
For the fifth year consecutively, the highest growth was among iced tea and coffee products, which recorded value sales growth of 30.7% to £68m. Lemonade’s volume sales shrunk despite substantial market worth, while Cola remained the category’s “star performer,” Britvic found.
Britvic managing director for the UK Paul Graham said: “2014 was the year when the grocery and convenience channel ‘held steady’ and showed its true resilience in the face of shifting consumer purchasing patterns and wider environmental challenges.
“Shaped by multiple consumer trends, such as the increasing focus on the wider health agenda, marketing and legislation, the rise of on-the-go consumption and the demand for added value out of every experience, the soft drinks manufacturers who have been the most successful have adapted their immediate consumption formats and incorporated flavour enhancements, as well as reformatting to provide low or no-calorie variants.
“Although these are challenging and changing times, there are significant growth opportunities for soft drinks in the grocery and convenience channel in 2015 and beyond.”
Glucose and energy drinks (+4.6%) Iced tea and coffee (+30.7%) Plain water (+12.6%) Water plus (+9.5%)
Squash concentrate (-4.7%) Cola (-0.2%)
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