Soft Drinks

Technological advances in 2024 will continue to reshape consumer behaviour. This annual report explores the top five digital shopper trends that will redefine commerce the most in the year ahead. Some of the trends included in this report’s edition…

Inflationary pressures have been dampening volume growth within soft drinks, as the higher cost of living for consumers is tightening their discretionary spending. The surge in unit prices across most soft drinks categories has been impacting…

In 2023, Australia has witnessed a gradual return to normalcy, as the nation has emerged from the pandemic’s grip. Australia’s recovery from COVID-19 started at a slower pace compared with many other countries due to prolonged restrictions, with…

Soft drinks manufacturers have grappled with increasing costs and production hurdles, stemming from soaring energy prices, supply chain bottlenecks, elevated transportation expenses, and surging prices for primary packaging materials, such as corn…

Soft drinks manufacturers have been contending with rising input costs and challenges to production caused by escalating energy costs, supply chain blockages, increased transportation costs, and surging prices for primary packaging materials.…

Inflation and supply chain issues have impacted categories across the soft drinks industry post-pandemic. The scarcity and soaring costs of primary and secondary packaging materials, such as glass, recycled plastic, and aluminium, have also impacted…

Growth in off-trade and on-trade value sales of energy drinks is set to remain robust throughout 2023, largely driven by broader inflationary pressures causing increases in unit prices across the category. Energy drinks emerged as one of the…

Despite the stabilisation of decline for a couple of years during the pandemic, concentrates in Australia has experienced a long-term gradual decline in off-trade RTD volume consumption, which is set to recommence in 2023, as the main demographic…

Sugar reduction remains a key strategy in carbonates, as most Australians are growing more health-conscious. The Health Star rating review has benefited sales of reduced sugar carbonates, as the rating system prioritises low sugar levels. Reduced…

Producers of bottled water are contending with higher input costs and supply chain complexities across multiple fronts. Increasing energy prices and transportation costs, supply chain logjams and inflated prices for primary packaging materials have…

Asian speciality drinks, the availability of which was once confined to smaller Asian grocers, have now expanded their presence to the shelves of mainstream grocery retailers in Australia. Historically, this category enjoyed a steady consumer base in…

2023 was the first year since 2019 in which New Zealand was largely free of COVID-19 restrictions, with no movement or gathering restrictions in place and the border fully open. As such, the year saw the full resumption of winter and summer sports,…

Value growth was strong across soft drinks in 2023 thanks in large part to broader inflationary pressures. While fuel costs have stabilised following the initial shock resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine early in 2022, the New Zealand…

During the review period, RTD tea benefited strongly from an association with health and wellness preferences, with carbonated RTD tea and kombucha in particular aligning with functional health and wellness trends and being a major driver behind…

Within RTD coffee, the popularity of the category has been driven by cold brew coffee. The RTD coffee category is amongst the most sensitive of all soft drinks categories to international pricing pressures owing to its reliance on imported coffee.…

Value sales growth within juice remained strong in 2023 with broader inflationary pressures a key contributor to this. While fuel costs have stabilised following the initial shock in 2022 after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the New Zealand…

Similarly to other soft drinks categories, energy drinks value sales growth was spurred by broader inflationary pressures in 2023. However, energy drinks also continued to see a notable rise in volume sales during the year. Indeed, the category…

Value sales growth within concentrates remained strong in 2023 with broader inflationary pressures a key contributor to the category’s expansion. While fuel costs have stabilised following the initial shock after the Russian invasion of Ukraine early…

An ammonia leak forced New Zealand’s only domestic supplier of carbon dioxide to shut down suddenly in December 2022 — causing a drastic shortage. Some prices skyrocketed more than 500% in a week, and supplies later dropped 50 to 60% below demand.…

In the first half of 2023, New Zealand was subjected to a number of extreme weather events across the country including extensive flooding in Auckland and Cyclone Gabriel across the upper North Island. While shoppers were urged to only buy what was…