UK Soft Drinks Market Remains Resilient Despite Poor Economic Backdrop
28 Mar 2014 --- The UK soft drinks market has once again emerged triumphant, according to the Britvic Soft Drinks Review. With other categories in FMCG continuing to decline in the wake of the challenging economic backdrop, soft drinks value sales grew steadily in 2013, rising by 2% to take the category over the £10bn (US$16.62 billion) mark for the first time.
Paul Graham, General Manager of Britvic Soft Drinks said: “Despite market and economic challenges, soft drinks have once again proved their resilience. Demonstrating its unique positioning and versatility, the category has continued to attract diverse audiences and maintained its appeal to different age groups with an array of sub-categories, brands and formats to suit all tastes, and purchasing occasions. As a result it’s unsurprising that the category has topped the £10bn mark for the first time in its history. We are confident that this successful performance and the continued evolution of soft drinks is paving the way for a positive and exciting future.”
Faring considerably better than other FMCG categories, soft drinks were buoyed by the spectacular summer and boosted by multiple trends, such as the demand for value-for-money, brands, premium products and healthier propositions, which continued to cement its versatility and relevancy amongst consumers.
Top line headlines from the review, based on independent data (w/e 28th December 2013) and CGA Strategy (w/e 28th December 2013) market data, include:
Grocery and convenience channels
• Grocery and convenience sales reached £7.5bn, growing by 4% in value and 2% volume
• Cola remained the category’s star performer with value sales totalling more than £1.6bn
• Highest growth came from cold hot drinks with value sales rising by 43%
• Glucose and energy drinks grew ahead of the category with a 7% increase in value sales
• Private label sales dipped slightly as consumers favoured trusted brand names
Leisure channel
• Soft drinks retained its position as the third largest category in FMCG after beer and spirits, with value sales of £2.8bn
• Britvic remained the number one supplier in the leisure channel for soft drinks, with value sales of more than £1.3bn
• Cola retained the largest share in the leisure channel with value sales of £1.2bn and grew by 1%
• Lemonade halted its previous static performance by rising at 4% in value to be worth over £416m in pubs and clubs
• Spirits gave rise to mixers, with the segment growing by 2%
In terms of trends, value for money remained a core purchase driver, with savvy shoppers snapping up the range of branded price-marked-packs offered by manufacturers and buying on promotion, whilst in the leisure channel, consumers turned to draught carbonates as a quality, value-for-money option.
Health remained high on the consumer agenda and the UK government continued to favour a collaborative approach within the industry.
Driven by the continuing multiple trends for at-home entertaining, top-up and on-the-go consumption, and combined with the warm summer weather, soft drinks saw steady growth in the grocery and convenience channel, rising by 4% value and 2% volume in 2013.
With sales totalling more than £7.5bn, soft drinks saw the highest value sales growth of all FMCG categories, demonstrating the continued relevancy and versatility of the category.
