US Soda Sales Lose Their Fizz, Diet Alternatives Suffer

27 Mar 2015 --- Consumers in the US are turning away from artificially sweetened soft drinks and coming back to sugar-sweetened alternatives, a new study by Beverage Digest has found.

While sales of ‘soda’ have fallen for the tenth consecutive year, the report also found that Pepsi Cola has regained the no.2 spot, overtaking volume sales of Diet Coke. The findings suggest that consumers are drinking fewer soft drinks, and when they do, they prefer to stay away from artificial sweeteners such as aspartame.

Researchers found that total volume sales fell by 0.9% compared with 2014, while Coke and Pepsi saw falls of 1.1% and 1.4% respectively. Volume sales are now back to consumption levels last seen in the 1990s, as consumers are increasingly seeking perceived healthier alternatives such as juice, smoothies and water.

A huge drop in sales of Diet Coke (6.6%) shows that not only are consumers looking for a healthy alternative to fizzy drinks, but that they are also losing faith in artificial ingredients. Diet drinks were until recently the ‘healthy’ alternative among soda drinkers, due to their low- or no-calorie status, but increasingly, consumers are willing to compromise on calories in order to consume natural ingredients.

The non-alcoholic beverage industry overall posted a 1.7% rise in volume sales, an increase largely attributed to increased water sales.