Soft Drinks in Western Europe

Delivery

This report comes in PPT.

Key Findings

Consumers still looking for innovations despite rising prices

Although industry players and consumers have been hit by high inflation of late, there remains room for optimism, as consumers are still willing to explore new and exotic tastes. New and sober drinking occasions have emerged since the pandemic, with consumers increasingly looking for healthy hydration. Innovative brands are therefore exploring new ways to keep consumers engaged.

Private label products popular across much of Western Europe

Private label accounts for almost a quarter of off-trade volumes in the Western European soft drinks market. Its share in the region’s biggest market, Germany, is 37%, and it makes up more than half of sales in a number of bottled water and juice categories in this country. The private label lines of the likes of Aldi, Lidl, Rewe or Edeka enjoy high levels of trust and popularity among German shoppers.

Discounters gain share as shoppers count their pennies

Between them, supermarkets, discounters and hypermarkets account for more than three quarters of off-trade volume sales in soft drinks in Western Europe. While supermarkets were seen as good locations for one-stop shopping during the pandemic, discounters have been gaining favour in the last few years, with their low prices proving attractive to consumers who have taken a hit to their purchasing power given the unusually high inflation rates.

Players reformulate to make their products HFSS-compliant in the UK

Some of the HFSS (High in saturated Fat, Salt and Sugar) regulations have already been implemented in the UK, with more to come over the forecast period. This has been seeing soft drinks players reformulate their products, with 86% of The Coca-Cola Co’s beverages expected to be HFSS-compliant by October 2024, for example. With most new products developments also HFSS-compliant, this is welcomed by consumers as healthier options and lifestyles become the norm.