This report looks at the following areas:
- Future market outlook and growth prospects of China’s carbonated sparkling drinks (CSD) market
- Competitive landscape of CSD market
- Notable product innovation trends and growth opportunities
- Consumption trends and changes in drinking occasions for CSDs and sparkling water
- The relationship between different fizzy textures and functionality
- Potential directions for expanding sparkling textures
- Refined flavour innovation for meal pairing
Faced with cautious spending and competition from highly functional products, sparkling drinks must boost functional ingredients, innovate in flavour and carbonation and cater to diverse needs across key occasions such as work, exercise and meal pairing.
Rika Huang, Senior Analyst, China Insights
Market Definitions
This Report covers sparkling drinks, including CSDs and other sparkling drinks (eg sparkling water, sparkling juice, etc).
The market size discussed in the Report only covers CSDs. This market size includes all mainstream CSDs, including sugar-free variants. Soda water, sparkling water, and tonic water (where on-pack terms describe the products as water) are excluded from this market size because of their status as (flavoured) water rather than a traditional soft drink in the Chinese market.
Sales data covers products sold through the following channels:
- Retail: includes retail outlets where CSDs are purchased for off-premise consumption, eg supermarkets, convenience stores and online retailers.
- Non-retail: includes any outlets where CSDs are purchased for consumption in foodservice and entertainment channels, eg leisure centres, hotels, restaurants, fast food outlets, coffee shops and other venues (eg pubs, bars, clubs).
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Executive summary
- Key issues covered in this Report
- Definitions
- What you need to know
- Key metrics of the sparkling drinks market
- Market factors
- New product trends
- Consumer trends and future opportunities
- What we think
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The market
- Market size and forecast
- Retail demand for sparkling drinks grows in 2025, driven by hot weather, emotional needs
- Graph 1: best- and worst-case forecast of retail value sales of carbonated soft drinks, 2020-30
- Graph 2: best- and worst-case forecast of retail volume sales of carbonated soft drinks, 2020-30
- Foodservice growth slows, but regional cuisines, innovations can boost meal-pairing penetration
- Graph 3: best- and worst-case forecast of total volume sales (retail and non-retail) of carbonated soft drinks, 2020-2030
- Graph 4: best- and worst-case forecast of non-retail volume sales of carbonated soft drinks, 2020-30
- Market factors
- Foodservice revenue growth slows as retail sales growth recovers
- Graph 5: year-on-year growth rate of total retail sales of consumer goods, year-on-year foodservice revenue growth rate and consumer confidence index, 2021-25
- Non-alcoholic drinks lead growth in spending intent; segmented demand merits attention
- Graph 6: categories consumers plan to spend more on in the next three months, 2025
- Graph 7: trading up and down – non-alcoholic drinks, 2022-25
- Consumers show limited intent to trade up in sparkling drinks
- Graph 8: trading up and down in non-alcoholic drinks – buying the more expensive product, 2023-24
- Plant-based, tea drinks may pose direct challenge to flavoured sparkling water, carbonated soft drinks
- Graph 9: alternative beverage choices among low-frequency and non-consumers, by segment, 2025
- Rising incidence of emotional issues positions sparkling drinks as potential mood remedy
- Graph 10: proportion of respondents with emotional issues, by reported issue, 2021-25
- Graph 11: drinking occasions – when relaxing, by type of non-alcoholic beverage, 2024
- Prolonged high temperatures boost sparkling drinks consumption
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Companies and brands
- Market share
- Two megabrands hold solid positions in the CSD market
- Coca-Cola’s Share a Coke campaign taps into ‘happy together’ vibe
- Pepsi steps up efforts to engage niche audiences
- Local brands compete with retro iced-tea cola sweetened with sugar
- Dayao deepens its ties with local foodservice channels
- New product trends
- Innovation in sparkling drinks continues to decline overall
- Innovation in carbonated soft drinks, fermented beverages at five-year high
- Graph 12: non-alcoholic drink launches, by sub-category, 2020-25
- Examples of diversified sparkling fermented drink products
- Reduction-focused innovation remains mainstream; no-additive products show rapid growth but remain niche
- Graph 13: new launches of carbonated soft drinks and sparkling water, by leading claim type, 2020-25
- Reduced-sugar trend continues, but use of natural sweeteners remains limited
- Graph 14: carbonated soft drink and sparkling water launches, by main sweetener type, 2020-25
- Nutritional fortification centres around digestive health
- Share of new launches with no flavour declines, cola remains the dominant flavour
- Graph 15: full flavour landscape of carbonated soft drinks launches, 2025
- Emerging local innovation in cola
- Cooling innovations boost competitiveness of sparkling drinks during summer heat
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The consumer
- Deliver a more direct and enjoyable flavour experience through segmented communication, innovation around fruit flavours
- Penetration of diet/sugar-free carbonated soft drinks is rising
- Graph 16: penetration of sparkling drinks, by segment, 2023-25
- Flavour, health concerns hold key to boosting consumption frequency
- Graph 17: consumption frequency, by segment, 2025
- Post-1990s, high-income households are main consumers of most sparkling beverage categories
- Graph 18: high-frequency* consumers of sparkling drinks, by generation, 2025
- Graph 19: high-frequency* consumers of sparkling drinks, by monthly household income, 2025
- Natural, functional benefits key to attracting, converting low-frequency users
- Graph 20: alternatives to sparkling drinks, 2025
- Fizzy juice is top choice for novelty; sparkling lactobacillus drinks gain popularity
- Graph 21: interest in new sparkling drinks, 2025
- Sparkling drinks containing fruit juice are gaining mainstream appeal
- Graph 22: carbonated soft drinks and sparkling water launches, with and without fruit juice, 2020-25
- Boosting the visibility of fruit juice and fruit flavours
- Lightly sparkling juice products help strengthen positioning around self-indulgence, relaxation
- Graph 23: drinking occasions – when relaxing, by type of drink consumed, 2024
- Graph 24: sparkling texture preferences, by drinking occasion, 2025
- Examples of fruit juice drinks with microbubble textures focused around a relaxing experience
- Fortification, innovative textures boost hydration, revitalisation benefits
- Main consumption occasions overlap across sparkling drink segments
- Graph 25: drinking occasions, 2025
- In key mental work scenarios, sparkling drinks face fierce competition from other categories
- Graph 26: compatible occasions, by type of drink preferred, 2024
- Sparkling texture combined with functionality: a highly anticipated trend
- Graph 27: alternatives to sparkling drinks, 2025
- Graph 28: interest in new sparking drinks, 2025
- Soda water favoured in exercise scenarios, no clear difference between segments in work/study
- Graph 29: sparkling drinks consumption occasions – exercise and work/study, 2024
- Innovation in sparkling sports drinks returns to growth
- Graph 30: share of sparkling sports drink launches within total sports drink launches, 2022-25
- Highlight natural sources of electrolytes, hydration benefits
- Strong bubbles help refresh, invigorate; microbubbles may better balance coolness, hydration needs
- Graph 31: sparkling texture preferences, by function, 2025
- Energy drink innovation declines in China, remains key trend in global market
- Graph 32: share of sparkling energy drink launches within total energy drink launches, 2022-2025
- Boosting alertness with the sensory hit of sparkling textures
- Complex flavour innovations, microbubble textures deliver a more refreshing pairing experience
- Growing importance of meal-pairing occasions benefits sparkling drinks
- Graph 33: consumption occasions for sparkling drinks – food-related, 2025
- Sparkling drinks launches further focus on meal-pairing occasions, still have room for growth
- Graph 34: non-alcoholic drinks with specific claims – counter greasiness/spiciness or after a big meal, by sub-category, 2022-2025
- Hot and spicy still at heart of brand communication, while meal pairing offers diverse opportunities
- Versatile fruit flavours: cola firmly tied to oily, spicy profiles; alcoholic drinks flavours pair particularly well with braised dishes
- Graph 35: food-pairing flavours, 2025
- Citrus flavours show signs of differentiation
- Graph 36: carbonated soft drinks flavour landscape – citrus fruit, 2025
- Deliver a fresher meal experience with differentiated citrus flavours
- Enhancing citrus flavours through process and craftsmanship
- Berry and melon flavours combine novelty with versatile meal pairing options
- Graph 37: carbonated soft drinks flavour landscape – berry and melon, 2025
- Examples of sparkling drinks with berry, melon flavours
- Classic meal-pairing alcoholic drinks flavours such as wine, beer cater to gender-based preferences
- Cocktail-inspired flavours bring more innovation opportunities to sparkling drinks
- Microbubbles balance flavour adjustment, digestive benefits
- Graph 38: sparkling texture preferences, by food-pairing function, 2025
- Highlight how microbubble textures improve dining experience
- Respondents in Beijing, Shanghai show strong interest in kombucha
- Graph 39: interest in new sparkling drinks – kombucha, by city, 2025
- Highlight unique microbubble texture from fermentation, along with digestive benefits
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Appendix – market size and forecast, research methodology and abbreviations
- Market size and forecast
- Methodology
- Abbreviations
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