Despite challenges, Soft Drinks remains resilient and is growing faster than other key categories.
By Elena Dimama
The Soft Drinks category continues to drive sales in the retail sector, with the Scottish part of the sector currently worth £697m.
According to Kantar Worldpanel, the sector’s value was up 1.3% (15.12.22) in Scotland, presenting a unique opportunity for the convenience market to tap into.
Flavours & wellbeing
Flavours are becoming increasingly vital to the soft drinks market, according to Red Bull. “This is because shoppers look for variety and are particularly interested in discovering new and exciting flavours, especially during the summer months,” Red Bull explains.
“As a result, flavoured Sports & Energy drinks are up +22% YoY vs unflavoured at +11%, with tropical flavours a core opportunity, growing 23% vs mainstream flavours at 15%.”
The brand says it is regularly rotating flavours and introducing limited-edition variants to help drive sales and introduce new shoppers to the Sports & Energy segment. “Red Bull Editions grew a huge +101% over Summer 2022, way ahead of total Sports & Energy flavours at +23%,” Red Bull says. “The range which consists of five flavours, with a new one coming this spring, now delivers £30m in sales per year.”
Flavoured sparkling cans can also serve as a “great choice for local retailers”, Highland Spring notes, along with a focus on health and wellbeing.
Low and no-sugar soft drinks are the bestselling segment in the Soft Drinks category (+£1.5bn) and the fastest-growing, +12.8% vs full sugar +12.5%, according to Nielsen Scantrack.
“Red Bull low calorie has a higher share of males vs total soft drinks (+58% vs 48%), which is representative of the Sports & Energy segment. They also tend to be younger and less affluent, whereas low-calorie soft drinks shoppers are largely older and more affluent, therefore Red Bull offers a different type of shopper vs the category,” Red Bull adds.
“We’re seeing consumers continually looking for soft drink brands with strong health credentials and natural ingredients that will quench their thirst and taste good,” Suzie Carlaw, Brand Marketing Controller, Highland Spring, explains.
Healthy soft drinks are a matter of focus for Cawston Press too. “Consumers are becoming increasingly interested in healthy, alcohol-free options when choosing a beverage, as shown through data stating 55% of UK adults are trying to cut down on alcohol consumption, which in turn provides a sales opportunity for great tasting, premium soft drinks as alcohol-free alternatives,” Kat Jones, Marketing Director, Cawston Press, says.
“Our drinks are made with pressed fruit, with no added sugar, no sweeteners and not from concentrate, being the biggest brand in the ‘Not from Concentrate’ category, which is expected to witness remarkable growth in the coming years.”
Bestway also regards the health trend as a “great opportunity” for the convenience sector. “Brands have a great opportunity to tune in to a new healthier market consumer trend and reformulate a new product line to cater for the health-conscious consumer,” the company says. “Local retailers will need to review their product lines, speak with customers about the type of products they would want to see and purchase in the store. Consumers are on the look-out for healthy soft drinks with brands creating no calories, no sugar and no sweeter drinks.”
The right pack
“Every shopper’s need is different, so it is crucial that their favourite soft drink is available in a range of formats to help satisfy their immediate requirement,” Red Bull explains. “Two in three Red Bull shoppers actually go into store knowing which can size they want to buy, therefore Red Bull Energy Drink is available in three different can sizes – 250ml, 355ml and 473ml – with each playing a key role.”
Bestway explains that single formats are important for consumers who are purchasing ‘on-the-go-drinks’ in convenience stores, while big bottles and can-pack formats will be useful for those consumers who are purchasing for the Big Night In or sports occasions.
- Start by getting the right amount of space per category. Sports & Energy is 35% of Soft Drinks, so take a look. Have you given it over a third of the chiller?
- Don’t scrimp on facings for your bestsellers. For example, Red Bull Energy Drink sells more than any other single-serve soft drink in your chiller – it will be near impossible to keep this, and your other bestsellers, perfectly chilled and available if they don’t have multiple facings.
- Put your bestsellers at eye level – Red Bull signposts Energy and Coke does the same for Cola. That ‘power shelf’ at eye level should always highlight your bestselling and most iconic brands.
