drinks value sales grew steadily in 2013, rising by 2% to take the category over the £10bn mark for the first time, according to the Britvic Soft Drinks Review 2014. 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 Nielsen (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%.
