Soft drinks demonstrated the greatest absolute value growth of any product category in 2022 (IRI) and is now worth £2.8bn to the convenience channel (IRI), according to Britvic’s Soft Drinks Review 2023.
The annual review has also unearthed huge growth potential for the sector, equating to £8,400 for each of the nearly 48,000 convenience stores operating in the UK today.
Energy drinks were the star performer last year, responsible for a huge £96.9m (28%) of the category’s £347.4m growth (IRI).
This was followed by cola and plain water, which added just over £70m each (IRI) and, due to the heatwave in 2022, sales of plain water surged by +39.4% to £250.3m (IRI).
Ben Parker, GB Retail Commercial Director at Britvic, comments: “Consumers have been feeling the pinch from rising living costs and inflation this last year, with increasing numbers being mindful of the amount they spend. In a bid to make their money stretch further, these pressured shoppers are expected to move toward smaller transactions and smaller pack sizes. At the same time, we’re also seeing a ‘lipstick effect’ where shoppers are switching from expensive purchases to treating themselves with smaller treats and indulgences. As inflation is set to continue, it’s important for retailers to offer choice to shoppers who will all be impacted differently – there’s no one size fits all solution. This should include a range of on-the-go options, in addition to multipacks and larger bottles, as well as price-marked packs (PMPs) as people will continue to look for value for money to help manage their budgets.”
We have seen the trend for healthier products continue to increase among consumers and with the high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) regulations now in place, reduced sugar options when it comes to soft drinks will only continue to grow in importance.
As a category soft drinks was well prepared ahead of the legislation, following the introduction of the Soft Drinks Industry Levy which came into effect in 2018. Therefore, to date, soft drinks has been in an ideal position to help retailers with any shortfall from other non-HFSS categories.
The accelerated health trend has also created opportunities for wellness brands, it’s no longer just about removing sugar or calories from diets. Shoppers are on the lookout for added vitamins or ingredients that can support both physical and mental health, from immune boosting benefits to those helping them to focus.
“Low in calories, with botanical extracts and added vitamins, Purdey’s has broad appeal, making it perfectly placed to lead in the wellness drinks segment,” adds Parker. “It’s ambition is to make wellness drinks accessible to more people, by aligning with current consumer trends and providing great taste. The brand delivers the important factors customers look for in functional soft drinks – clear benefits, great taste and healthier ingredients.”
Britvic has also reviewed how it can serve the demand for functional benefits within its existing portfolio and last year launched Robinsons Benefit Drops, available in four flavours, each with a different added functional benefit. The range offers shoppers a convenient and tasty way to gain additional vitamins while on-the-move.
“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,” says Parker.
Britvic bolstered its Pepsi MAX flavours last year with the new addition of Pepsi MAX Lime and also 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. The most recent flavour in this series is the Tango Paradise Punch Sugar Free which launched in January, featuring Tango’s boldest pack design and flavour yet. Tango Dark Berry Sugar Free launched in April 2021 and was the number one fruit flavoured carbonate during that year (Nielsen), it is now worth £13m RSV, growing +66% vs LY (Nielsen).
“The success of sugar free flavours reinforces how important it is for us to continue meeting the demands of health-conscious consumers with an innovation pipeline whilst keeping flavour at the forefront,” Parker continues.
Adrian Troy, Marketing Director at Barr Soft Drinks, comments: “The UK’s £10.9 billion soft drinks category is growing at +8% (IRI) and is one of the most profitable categories for retailers. By stocking a range of quality and trusted brands from Barr Soft Drinks, there are some key opportunities to drive incremental sales and increase profits.”
Last year, the Barr Soft Drinks portfolio of brands delivered an additional +£19 million in retail sales value to the soft drinks category (IRI), with further growth expected this summer.
Summer is the key period for soft drinks sales and there is a huge opportunity for retailers to build on the success of last year. With unprecedented temperatures recorded last summer, sales were bigger than ever before in soft drinks, with flavoured carbonates and water seeing the biggest uplifts. During the peak of the heatwave, an additional +£75 million in soft drinks sales were recorded in just one week vs. the year before (IRI).
“IRN-BRU is the UK’s most loyal flavoured carbonate brand for shoppers (Kantar), and is a must stock for all retailers, achieving double digital growth across its popular 500ml and multipack can formats (IRI),” adds Troy.
Seeing a return this spring, the brand’s Taste Debate campaign, ‘Let’s just agree it Tastes Phenomenal’, last year resulted in a +55% increase in how often 16 to 34 years old consumers drank IRN-BRU.
IRN-BRU XTRA, delivering extra IRN-BRU taste with zero sugar, also delivered an additional +£3 million of sales in the last year (IRI) and +30% since two years ago (IRI), proving to be a popular flavour choice within the fast growing low calorie carbonates sector.
Rubicon continues to go from strength to strength, growing at double the rate of total Soft Drinks (IRI) and adding +£28 million to the brand value post-Covid (IRI).
“Rubicon, known for its iconic fruity and exotic flavours, is a must-stock over the summer period,” says Troy.
Rubicon Sparkling, the No.1 exotic carbonates brand (IRI), continues to be a popular choice with shoppers, adding over +£4 million to the category last year alone (IRI).
With less than 15 calories per bottle, Rubicon Spring is going from strength to strength, adding over £3.5 million (IRI) to the category in the last year.
The Barr Family range has a pack, flavour and format to suit every shopper. Barr has a longstanding, loyal customer base, not just in Scotland, but increasingly so across the rest of the UK.
Thanks to its great value, flavours and fun appeal, it continues to be a firm favourite for shoppers in flavoured carbonates. This is highlighted by the brand’s size – now worth over £43 million (IRI), delivering an incremental +£3.3 million in value in the last year (IRI).
Adrian Hipkiss, Marketing Director at Boost Drinks, comments: “The total UK Soft Drinks market continues to grow and is now worth more than £10bn, maintaining its spot as a top 3 category in Convenience (IRI).”
Within the soft drinks category, Sports and Energy account for £817.9m. When taking a closer look into the energy sub-categories, it’s Energy Stimulation drinks which play a significant role in contributing to the value growth of the Soft Drinks category, growing +15% YoY (IRI), and accounting for 26% of all Soft Drink value sales (IRI).
“Boost is the only brand that is a top three in three Functional Drinks categories – Energy Stimulation, Sports Drinks and RTD Iced Coffee (IRI),” adds Hipkiss. “Within this, Boost is the third largest brand (IRI) in the Energy Stimulation category and the number one fastest growing Sports and RTD Iced Coffee brand, something we’re incredibly proud of.”
Insight illustrates that Flavoured Carbonates is the 3rd largest category in Soft Drinks, now being worth over £291m and growing +8% YOY (IRI). Tropical fruit is the fastest growing flavour in the category, growing +50% and adding +£3 million RSV in two years. Rio, which contains exotic guava and passion fruit, is the fastest growing brand in value, witnessing a 34% growth YoY (IRI) and has the highest unit ROS amongst all fruit carbonates.
“This in turn exemplifies that Rio offers huge growth opportunities for retailers; and with a range of products such as Rio Tropical, which comes in both price marked can and 500ml bottle formats, and Rio Tropical Light, there’s a selection of products on offer to suit varying consumer needs, including those looking to make more conscious choices regarding the sugar content of the products they consume without compromising on flavour, as many are in 2023,” says Hipkiss.
Boost unveiled the Raspberry and Mango limited edition Sport variety in April 2023. With Raspberry flavour profiles in +55% growth and Mango seeing +58% growth (IRI), the combination will provide a guaranteed way for Boost to shake up the Sports category and bring something new and exciting to the Soft Drinks market.
Boost Drinks has expanded its popular Energy Stimulation range, with the reformulation of its Citrus Zing 250ml Energy drink, which relaunched as Lemon & Lime Energy this March.
Boost introduced a new flavour to its successful Juic’d range in April 2023. Blood Orange & Raspberry Crush provides retailers with another flavour option of 2022’s biggest selling new 500ml energy drink range to offer to customers (IRI). Orange is currently the 4th strongest flavour in soft drinks and 2nd in Juice, and Raspberry is the 6th biggest flavour in Stimulation and is growing by +58% (Mintel), providing a unique opportunity to combine these two popular and delicious flavour profiles.
The ‘Flavourverse’ is Old Jamaica’s new brand proposition that amplifies the boldness, individuality and flavour-full drinks and aims to encourage curious 18-34 year olds to be their biggest, baddest, best selves. Refresco UK, the bottler and distributer of Old Jamaica, has invested £1 million into the campaign which features a partnership with KISS FM to launch the ‘Flavourverse’ to the UK public, this summer.
As the cost of living continues to overshadow the nation, Old Jamaica will be glitching the ‘Flavourverse’ into unexpected places online and in real life. Flavour curious people, who spot these glitches, will have the opportunity to win prizes and rewards to fire up their summer.
The ‘Flavourverse’ will be glitching throughout the KISS FM network including its drivetime show and KISS Nights. Listeners will also get involved with glitching their iconic sounds of summer with a curated mixtape by DJ Majestic and be in with the chance of winning a summer defining trip to Bali.
Throughout the summer, Old Jamaica and KISS will be surprising festival go-ers with an immersive music experience for curious individuals at a host of UK festivals and KISS events.
As part of its campaign, Old Jamaica will also be running a targeted TikTok-only campaign – ‘Spot the Glitch, Get Rich’. The promotion will see the ‘Flavourverse’ disrupt TikTok feeds with the opportunity to win exciting prizes. If somebody spots a boundary breaking ‘Flavourverse’ glitch, whilst doomscrolling through TikTok, they’re in with a chance to win £10,000 and a host of daily instant win prizes such as festival tickets, clothing vouchers and more to fire up their summer.
Joe Major, head of marketing at Old Jamaica (Refresco UK), said: “This campaign is the first in a new strategic direction for the brand. Not only is it the first for the ‘Flavourverse’, but it’s also the first campaign that sees us target younger drinkers, with a lust for adventure and flavour, for the first time.
“Whilst the ‘Flavourverse’ gives us the opportunity to bring to life our no-compromise flavour to UK consumers, it also means we can focus our dedicated support for retailers to drive footfall and sales amongst an audience looking for more powerful flavours than many other brands in the category.”
The ‘Flavourverse’ and summer campaign is the result of a rebrand effort conducted by Refresco UK and its lead brand and marketing consultancy, NOKAMO Consulting with media planning partners, Wavemaker. Emerge, the makers of the popular isotonic sport drink, have announced a partnership with Tough Mudder for 2023 and 2024 as the official Tough Mudder Isotonic Drinks Partner. Emerge will be the on-course hydration partner at Tough Mudder UK serving isotonic drinks to approximately 120,000 participants.
The partnership will be supported with an on-pack activation for the chance to win prizes such as Fitbits, high street gift cards, Tough Mudder event tickets and discount codes. Emerge Isotonic Drinks are in growth versus last year by +13% and the limited-edition Tough Mudder packs will help drive incremental sales in convenience and wholesale settings all year round, as it gives consumers an additional reason to choose Emerge alongside its value price point which will be key throughout 2023 and 2024. The activation will be supported by a brand-new consumer communications campaign launched in December 2022 in London, alongside several social media competitions throughout the two years.
Tough Mudder is a leading global sports and lifestyle brand with over 25 unique on-course obstacle challenges and an estimated upwards of 100K participants in 2023 throughout the UK. Operating in 19 countries and with more than 5M participants worldwide.
Tough Mudder was a natural partnership for Emerge to link to its sport roots and active target audience. Tough Mudder is aimed to put your endurance and physical boundaries to the test with various challenging obstacles. Emerge will be the main sponsor of the Everest obstacle, an iconic, and all-time favourite on the course. Everest is all about teamwork while you’ll start the ascent alone there will be plenty of helping hands at the top to help get you to the summit.
Emerge will have access to the Tough Mudder community of engaged fitness enthusiasts who all digest the brand’s content across social and digital platforms with over 1M followers across social media and 1M weekly website visits. This will allow Emerge to reach a wider audience of like-minded individuals and gain continuous exposure as the value isotonic brand, which will further increase brand awareness and drive in-store sales. In addition to online, Emerge will have a centre spot at the Tough Mudder Event Village with opportunities to engage in product sampling, content opportunities, with influencers and all those who have completed the challenge.
In convenience, the ‘Sports Drinks’ category is worth over £106 million and is in growth versus the previous year by +33% despite the cost-of-living crisis hitting retailers and consumers hard. Emerge wants to support independent store owners during this challenging trading period as research commissioned by Refresco reveals that 85% of store owners prefer to use a price-marked product.
Emerge Commercial Manager Nelly Edwards says: “While consumers in the energy drink market do tend to be brand loyal, it’s important that Retailers offer choice and cater for ever-changing tastes and consumer lifestyles. Healthier lifestyle choices are also driving market trends, with added benefits such as vitamins growing in popularity.”
There are five great-tasting flavours in the Emerge Sport range. Each is enhanced with B vitamins and comes in a convenient format, which can be consumed throughout the day to boost energy levels and promote endurance. This combined with Emerge’s great value pricing makes it the perfect choice for a drink ‘on the go.’
“With value more important than ever, we want to support independent store owners during the cost-of-living crisis,” adds Edwards. “Internal research shows that retailers prefer to use price-marked packs. We propose featuring the full range of Emerge Isotonic Drinks to generate interest in the category at an irresistible offer for customers.”
With warm weather, picnics, barbecues and sporting events, consumers are looking for treats in the summer months so wholesalers should respond to this preference. Shaken Udder’s consumer research revealed that Brits can’t get enough of milkshakes with over a quarter (28%) saying they consider a milkshake the ultimate treat even above the likes of cake, ice cream and chocolate. All of the milkshakes in Shaken Udder’s range are HFSS compliant and contain no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
Certain formats and flavours perform well in the summer months. Alex Makin, Trade Marketing Manager at Shaken Udder, says: “As we move into summer, we typically see increases of around 50-100% in sales of our 330ml on-the-go range, which are easier to carry and consume while out and about. Our fruity, refreshing ‘Strawberry Dream’ milkshake flavour is particularly popular in the summer months while our ‘Chocolush’ flavour remains our bestselling flavour all year round. In contrast, our larger format 750ml range sells consistently well throughout the year.”
Shaken Udder launched its first TV advertising campaign, ‘Do what makes you happy’ in April which ran exclusively on ITV for four weeks. In addition to the TV advert, the brand invested in a digital campaign, an OOH ad campaign and a consumer PR campaign. This major advertising push supports Shaken Udder’s new branding which dials up its exceptional taste credentials whilst celebrating its festival heritage.
Kenton Burchell, Group Trading Director, Bestway, comments: “The summer months is when the temperature rises and the trend for consumers attending key outdoor sporting events, festivals, and gatherings happens. Wholesalers will need to ensure that they stock the ‘must stock lines’ for celebrations.”
Consumers are looking for promotions and value for money in soft drinks and water, including drinks being part of a meal deal as part of a promotion.
Bestway stocks price mark packs and 2ltr bottles to cater for customers who are out for larger gatherings including picnics and barbeques.
“During the summer months customers will be attending and participating in sports events and sports drinks will be a popular purchase,” adds Burchell. “At Bestway we look at the trends and plan campaigns to attract retailers in and support them in giving the best value for their money and help increase their incremental sales.”
Bestway stocks PMPs of Cola Bottles, 500ml and PMP multi-packed in cans which are popular for customers purchasing packs for the Big Outing.
“Wholesalers should be stocking on standard and sugar free packs for those looking for healthier alternatives,” says Burchell. ‘
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