Although there was an element of some foodservice consumption moving into the home due to Coronavirus (COVID-19) in 2020, the retail channel also experienced some disruptions during the year, including closures and supply chain problems, resulting in flat retail value growth. The best performer in 2020 was malt-based hot drinks, which was particularly dynamic in India, where it is often seen as a healthy product that can help boost the immune system – a perfect fit during the pandemic.
This report comes in PPT.
Other hot drinks had been recording steady annual growth in Asia Pacific over the historic period, until COVID-19 hit the region. In China, in particular, this saw the government introducing stringent measures, including closures, lockdowns and home seclusion, in a bid to halt transmission of the virus. This resulted in a drop in consumption of other hot drinks in the Chinese market in the first half of 2020, and, although sales recovered in the second half of the year, the first-half losses in China meant that overall regional sales were stagnating in 2020.
Tea, coffee and other hot drinks are universally consumed products in India, and, as a result, retail sales were to some extent insulated from the impact of the pandemic. The end of the first quarter and the entire second quarter of the calendar year saw consumers stockpiling these products, as they wanted to make fewer trips to grocery stores in order to reduce the risk of contracting COVID-19. This naturally translated into purchases of greater amounts, helping other hot drinks to continue recording strong growth in 2020. Consumers also demonstrated greater interest in products offering added-value health benefits, such as immune system-boosting functionality, as a direct result of COVID-19.
Consumers were opting for healthy products to achieve balanced nutrition and help them better fend off the COVID-19 virus in 2020. The onset of the pandemic further stimulated sales of plant-based hot drinks in China, for example, as consumers looked to boost their immunity – and this trend is set to continue into the forecast period.
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