2026
9
UK Carbonated Soft Drinks Market Report 2026
2026-04-23T14:02:21+00:00
REPF8DE6B2C_85CD_41A5_9E6B_2C85CD21A55E
2995
192830
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Report
en_GB
Carbonated soft drinks enjoy near‑universal usage, with four in five adults drinking these, though only a minority daily. Usage is strongest among younger adults. They drink CSDs more often, thanks…
UK
Carbonated Soft Drinks
simple

UK Carbonated Soft Drinks Market Report 2026

"2025 marked a return to volume growth for CSDs amid hot summer. Engaging the young through emerging channels is crucial. The on premise holds scope for trading up."

Sam Fryers, Research Analyst

Sam Fryers, Research Analyst

UK Carbonated Soft Drinks Industry – Trends and Insights

  • Carbonated soft drinks enjoy near‑universal usage, with four in five adults drinking these, though only a minority daily. Usage is strongest among younger adults. They drink CSDs more often, thanks to their wider range of occasions, from having these as a treat to replacing alcohol.
  • 2025 marked a turning point for CSDs, with volumes returning to growth amid a record-breaking warm summer after consecutive declines since 2022. Value growth accelerated, fuelled by inflation as well as added value variants, benefiting from alcohol moderation and healthier NPD.
  • Looking ahead, engaging under‑35s remains crucial. Social media now plays a decisive role in how younger consumers discover new CSD brands and flavours, making a compelling online presence critical for brands. The on‑premise channel offers growth potential, with unique listings, customisation and elevated serves enabling brands and venues holding potential to win spend even as incomes face renewed pressure.
  • However, volumes are forecast to remain subdued over the longer term, with demographic shifts, regulatory disruption and rising competition from adjacent soft drink categories posing ongoing challenges.

This Report Looks at the Following Areas:

  • Performance of the market, including the impact of inflation on value and volume sales of carbonated soft drinks
  • Usage and usage frequency of standard and diet carbonated soft drinks
  • Factors impacting consumer choice of carbonated soft drinks, including the continued relevance of familiarity
  • On-trade opportunities for carbonated soft drinks around customised serves and listing of brands not found in shops
  • Opportunities for carbonated soft drinks to explore naturalness

Market Definitions

Products covered in this report:

  • All mainstream CSDs are included in the market size. Diet carbonates are included. Cocktail mixers (including ginger ale and bitter lemon) are included. Tonic water is defined as a sparkling water by Circana, and so is excluded from market size, share, and segmentation data.
  • Kombucha and iced tea has been included in the market size data and falls under ‘all other carbonates’ segment.

For the purposes of this Report, Mintel has used the following definitions:

  • Retail: this includes retail outlets where CSDs are purchased for the purpose of consumption off-premise, comprising supermarkets, convenience stores and petrol forecourts among others.
  • On-premise: this includes anywhere where CSDs are bought to consume on-site, eg leisure centres, hotels, restaurants, fast food venues, cafes, education establishments, the workplace and in the on-trade (ie pubs, bars, clubs).
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  1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

    • What you need to know
    • Outlook for carbonated soft drinks
    • Opportunities
    • Make full use of social media, including live content formats, to engage younger consumers
    • Customisation and unique listings can build on-premise buzz
    • Spotlight natural credentials where possible
    • Discover the top five trend territories for success in UK non-alcoholic beverages using Black Swan’s social prediction technology
  2. THE MARKET

    • Snapshot – market size and forecast
    • Weak consumer confidence holds mixed potential for CSDs
    • Graph 1: financial wellbeing and confidence indices, 2019-26
    • Healthy eating efforts bring opportunities and threats to CSDs
    • New proposals could bring more products in scope of HFSS and SDIL
    • DRS set to launch in October 2027
    • Market size and forecast of carbonated soft drinks
    • Graph 2: market value forecast for carbonated soft drinks, 2019-30
    • Market size and forecast
    • Retail and on-premise sales rebound in 2025
    • Graph 3: value sales of CSDs, by on- and off-trade, 2019-25
    • Cola and other carbonates record volume growth in 2025
    • Graph 4: retail value sales of CSDs, by segment, 2023-25
    • Most brands see retail volume growth, own-label struggles to make gains in 2024/25
    • Graph 5: leading brands’ value sales in the CSDs retail market, 2023/24-2025/26
    • Graph 6: leading brands’ volume sales in the CSDs retail market, 2023/24-2025/26
    • Dr Pepper and 7UP outperform the category amid continued own-label decline
  3. THE CONSUMER

    • Four in five drink carbonated soft drinks
    • CSDs enjoy high daily usage among the young
    • Graph 7: usage of CSDs by age, presence of children in the household and financial health, 2026
    • Growing need to engage over-55s
    • Winning favour with Gen Z
    • Discovery of CSDs is strongly shaped by social media
    • Social media presence crucial for Gen Z discovery of brands and flavours
    • Live content holds untapped potential
    • Show the people behind the brand
    • Tap the appeal of small brands and novelty
    • Leverage technology and tie-ups to dial up relevance
    • Build the buzz on-premise
    • Explore customisation and unique serves to drive on-premise sales of CSDs
    • Unique CSDs hold potential amid cost pressures and alcohol moderation
    • Explore custom serves
    • Dial up presentation
    • Spotlight natural credentials where possible
    • Naturalness resonates strongly among CSD drinkers
    • Strong interest in naturalness from CSDs brands
    • Graph 8: top attributes when choosing a CSD, 2025
    • Spotlight real fruit juice content where applicable
    • Opportunities in carbonated juice drinks
  4. PRODUCT, INNOVATION AND MARKETING

    • Leading cola brands continue to add flavour twists
    • Sour flavours gather pace in NPD
    • Cans gain further share of launches
    • Graph 9: share of CSD launches, by packaging type, 2021-25
    • Adult drinks attract NPD
    • Gut-friendly CSDs grow visibility
    • Premium brands revamp and extend
    • Marketing themes span sport, entertainment and taste
    • IRN-BRU champions authenticity, reviving its longstanding Made in Scotland from Girders campaign
  5. APPENDIX

    • Market definition
    • The market
    • Forecast methodology
    • Forecast methodology – fan chart
    • Market size and forecast for carbonated soft drinks
    • Graph 10: market size and forecast for volume sales of carbonated soft drinks, 2019-30
    • Market size and forecast of carbonated soft drinks (value)
    • Market size and forecast of carbonated soft drinks (volume)
    • Market forecast and prediction intervals – value
    • Market forecast and prediction intervals – volume
    • Retail value and volume sales of CSDs, by type
    • Sales of CSDs, by channel
    • CSDs market share – value sales – brands
    • CSDs market share – volume sales – brands
    • CSDs market share – value sales – manufacturer
    • CSDs market share – volume sales – manufacturer
    • Trends in the population age structure
    • The consumer
    • Consumer research questions
    • Consumer research methodology
    • UK generation groups
    • Abbreviations

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