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Ten years ago, I wrote an article reviewing the world’s top 15 soft drinks brands. A decade on, curious to see what’s changed, I have revisited the data to understand how the landscape has shifted. And the transformation is striking.
In 2015, three soft drinks brands featured in Kantar's BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands: Coca-Cola at number 8, Pepsi at 79 and Red Bull at 94. Fast forward to 2025, and only Coca-Cola remains – now at 14th place. Evidently, technology has taken over, with digital-first brands dominating the upper echelons of brand valuation.
Apple, for instance, remains the leading global brand overall, valued at $250 billion in 2015. By 2025, its valuation has soared to $1.3 trillion. Even the 100th-ranked brand is now worth $21 billion – nearly double the $11 billion needed to make the list ten years ago.
Yet the beverage sector continues to hold strong. In 2025, 13 drinks brands appeared in the top 20 food and beverage rankings, including three newcomers shaking up the status quo: Nongfu Spring water from China (ranked 4th), Chinese dairy brand Yili (5th) and Monster Energy from the US (9th).
Here’s a snapshot of the top global beverage brands by value in 2025 compared to 2015:
⭐ Rank 2025 | 🌟 Brand | 💰 Value 2025 ($bn) | 🔙 Rank 2015 | 💵 Value 2015 ($bn) |
🥇 1 | Coca-Cola | 111.4 | 🥇 1 | 70.0 |
🥈 2 | Red Bull | 19.7 | 3 | 11.4 |
🥉 3 | Pepsi | 16.8 | 4 | 10.8 |
4 | Nongfu Spring | 11.8 | ||
5 | Yili | 10.0 | ||
6 | Nespresso | 9.7 | 9 | 5.2 |
7 | Nescafé | 9.2 | 5 | 6.3 |
8 | Diet Coke | 8.6 | 2 | 13.8 |
9 | Monster | 8.1 | ||
10 | Fanta | 8.0 | 7 | 6.0 |
11 | Sprite | 7.9 | 8 | 5.3 |
12 | Gatorade | 6.2 | 10 | 4.7 |
13 | Dr Pepper | 5.2 | 13 | 2.7 |
The brands no longer appearing in the 2025 rankings are Tropicana, Lipton, Minute Maid, Mountain Dew and Diet Pepsi.
Ownership influence tells another story:
Coca-Cola owns four of the current top 13 brands and holds a minority stake in a fifth.
PepsiCo, which had five brands in the 2015 ranking, now has just two.
Nestlé maintains its two spots with Nespresso and Nescafé.
The most significant change? China’s emergence as a beverage brand powerhouse, with two companies in the new global top five.
Looking ahead, it’ll be fascinating to see which brands rise (and which fade) as we approach 2030 and beyond. Which names do you think will enter the rankings over the next decade?
