Sports Drinks in Finland

2020 IMPACT

Despite lockdown, sports drinks benefits from new launches, rising health consciousness, and category shift in 2020

The impact of COVID-19 on sports drinks during lockdown was mitigated to some extent by key launches taking place in 2020, such as Coca-Cola Finland’s low calorie Powerade Zero. This was the first high-volume launch in the category, although smaller brands had already entered during the review period.

Volume sales of sports drinks boosted by wider distribution across channels, especially online and discounters

Off-trade volume sales of sports drinks are expected to show strong growth in 2020, a trend that can be at least partly attributed to increased distribution, which has been widening to include health and sports centres, grocery retailers and online outlets, although some of these channels, such as sports centres, were restricted or unavailable during lockdown. Online distribution has, for example, expanded via Lidl, Finland’s only discounter, which now has a portion of its webpage headlined Sportyfeel (Feel the Fuel), offering sports drinks in addition to sports equipment.

The ubiquitous Coca-Cola strengthens its grip on sports drinks, as other players bow out

Competition within sports drinks is fierce, and Coca-Cola Finland Oy’s Powerade and Hartwall’s Gatorade are expected to maintain their collectively dominant position in sports drinks in 2020. Although Hartwall is set to lose some share, Coca-Cola is likely to strengthen its lead, thanks to its strong presence in Finland across retail channels, its well-established distribution networks, and the company’s might, which enables it to withstand the worst economic effects of the pandemic.

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