A raft of flavour innovation and a renewed focus on energy has helped soft drinks remain amongst the top-selling categories.
Soft drinks has remained in strong growth within independent and symbol stores, propelled by the sports and energy sub-sector and fruit-flavoured carbonates.
Last year, shoppers made more trips out of home to buy soft drinks, according to data from Kantar, with trip frequency up 7%.
Energy up
Sports and Energy has been a key part of the sector’s uplift, accounting for 68% of all growth and adding £144m to the category. In convenience, Sports and Energy is already the top soft drinks category, accounting for 40% of all value sales and growing share (+3pts vs last year), according to Nielsen.
“In addition to more trips, we’ve seen an increase in shoppers buying Energy Drinks through Independents & Symbols,” Red Bull says. “Last year three million shoppers purchased an Energy Drink in the channel (+25% vs last year), making it a key category to focus on in 2024.”
The company adds: “We’re also seeing this trend play out within the wider market, and throughout the summer we saw weeks where Sports & Energy overtook Colas as the number one category in value share within the total market.
“Within this, Energy has been a key player, now accounting for 19% of all soft drink value (+2pts in share vs two years ago) and growth is showing no signs of slowing, so we expect this trend to continue this year.”
Excitement is also key when it comes to communicating innovation, helping retailers and brands boost the category. Matt Gouldsmith, Channel Director, Wholesale, Suntory Beverage & Food GB&I explains: “We know from our conversations with retailers that the core range from big brands (such as Lucozade Energy) that lead the segment, and the interest that new launches and flavours create, really help get shoppers excited.” Lucozade Energy has moved its 380ml single SKUs to 500ml bottles only, while also introducing a PMP variant, available for the first time in a 500ml format.
Flavours and wellness
The two top trends dominating the sector continue to be flavours and health. Within the category, flavoured carbonates are enjoying strong growth, worth £998m and growing 9.3% year on year, according to Nielsen.
“Taste remains the top consideration in soft drinks purchases, and flavour innovations are becoming more complex as consumers look for new and interesting tastes, so we expect to see more unique products on shelf as the category grows,” Barr Soft Drinks Commercial Director, Jonathan Kemp, says.
Innovation in flavours is playing a big role in category success, along with being able to offer sugar-free variants which boost brands’ health credentials. “Flavour innovation is crucial in keeping shoppers excited by soft drinks and at a time when the cost of living is rising, it’s important to offer new products from well-known brands to help maintain basket spend,” Ben Parker, GB Retail Commercial Director at Britvic, explains. “We launched Tango Editions, a rotational sugar-free flavour series which combines bold tastes, bold liquids and bold pack designs to cater to this growing need.”
Energy flavours are also a key part of the category’s innovation with Red Bull expecting the momentum to roll into 2024. “Last year, 71% of shoppers that were new to Energy Drinks bought a flavoured product, so a key part of the category to drive penetration,” the company says. “Red Bull is a driving force behind flavours in the market, with the Edition range now bought by 2.6 million shoppers and growing +£19.9m year on year.”
Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) is also boosting its energy offering, with the core Monster range still being led by the Original variant, however a new zero sugar line hit shelves in September. “We added four other launches to our range in 2023: Monster Lewis Hamilton Zero Sugar, Monster Juiced Aussie Lemonade, red berry-flavoured Monster Ultra Rosa and Monster Ultra Peachy Keen. And we have much more in the pipeline in 2024,” Amy Burgess, Senior Trade Communications Manager at CCEP, adds.
- 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 best sellers. 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 best sellers, perfectly chilled and available if they don’t have multiple facings.
- Put your best sellers at eye level – Red Bull signposts Energy and Coke does the same for Cola. That ‘power shelf’ at eye level should always highlight your best-selling and most iconic brands.
