UK Carbonated Soft Drinks Market Report
The CSD market was hit in 2023 by the income squeeze. The discretionary nature of the drinks and their rapidly rising prices prompted consumers to cut back on them. Value growth will slow as inflation decelerates.
The recent spotlight on HFSS, UPFs and the WHO advising against the use of non-sugar sweeteners (NSS) to control body weight stand to pose a threat to the carbonated soft drinks market UK if they gain further attention from the media.
Carbonated Soft Drinks Industry Trends, Challenges and Opportunities
Flavour remains crucial to drive interest
Their taste bud-pleasing flavours are carbonated soft drinks appealing feature. Promisingly, buzz around new flavours can translate to purchases. Cocktail-inspired flavours, retro features and collaborations with other food and drink brands stand out as opportunity areas, given strong consumer interest.
Route to combat packaging concerns
Single-use packaging waste remains a key challenge for the CSD market. Beyond pressure from regulators, consumers are also concerned about the litter produced. Brands in the carbonated soft drinks industry can invest in deposit return schemes to help combat this by more effectively ‘closing the loop’ on drinks packaging waste.
- Soft drink industry trends: Two in five people who drink and buy CSDs say that concerns about the amount of litter produced put them off drinking these more.
Purchase our UK Carbonated Soft Drinks Market Report to receive a five-year forecast, consumer behaviour analysis, and recommendations for market opportunities. Readers of this report may also be interested in our A Year of Innovation in Carbonated Soft Drinks for an overview of the most innovative product launches in the global soft drinks market.
Topics Analysed in this Report
- The impact of the income squeeze on the CSD market and the outlook for the next five years.
- Key new product development trends in the soft drinks industry.
- Usage of CSDs and key demographics.
- Behaviours related to carbonated soft drinks, including recycling and refills.
- Concepts of interest in CSDs, including related to naturalness and sugar reduction.
- Consumer interest in NPD and selected opportunity areas in the CSD market.
Expert Insights from a Drinks Analyst
This report, written by Kiti Soininen, a leading research analyst, delivers in-depth commentary and analysis to highlight carbonated soft drinks market trends and add expert context to the numbers.
The CSDs market saw volumes fall in 2023 due to the income squeeze and absence of a hot summer. Various brands bucked the trend thanks to NPD and related marketing.
Kiti Soininen
Head of UK Food and Drink Research
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Executive Summary
- Opportunities for the carbonated soft drinks market
- Market dynamics and outlook
- Graph 1: retail sales of CSDs and adult soft drinks, by segment, 2021-23
- Graph 2: leading brands’ sales in the CSDs retail market, by value, 2020/21-2022/23
- What consumers want and why
- Graph 3: usage of CSDs, by type, 2020-23
- Graph 4: behaviours related to carbonated soft drinks, 2023
- Graph 5: concepts of interest in carbonated soft drinks, 2023
- Graph 6: behaviours related to carbonated soft drinks, 2023
- Innovation and marketing
- Graph 7: CSDs launches by sugar content per 100ml, 2019-23
- Graph 8: above-the-line, online display and direct mail advertising expenditure on CSDs, by advertiser 2019-22
- Graph 9: selected key metrics for selected leading brands, 2023
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Market Dynamics
- Market size
- Graph 10: total value and volume sales of CSDs, 2018-23
- Market forecast
- Graph 11: value and volume sales of CSDs, annual change, 2008-14
- Retail segmentation
- Graph 12: retail sales of CSDs and adult soft drinks, by segment, 2021-23
- Channels to market
- Graph 13: volume sales of CSDs, by channel, 2019-23
- Graph 14: value sales of CSDs, by channel, 2019-23
- Market share
- Graph 15: leading brands’ sales in the CSDs retail market, by value, 2020/21-2022/23
- Graph 16: leading brands’ sales in the adult soft drinks retail market, by value, 2020/21-2022/23
- Macro-economic factors
- Graph 17: GDP, 2021-23
- Graph 18: CPI inflation rate, 2021-23
- Graph 19: “Have you been affected by any of these issues over the last two months? Please select all that apply.”, 2023
- Graph 20: CPI annual rate for soft drinks and food, 2019-23
- Graph 21: The financial wellbeing index, 2016-23
- Graph 22: The financial confidence index, 2016-23
- Social, environmental and legal factors
- Graph 23: how often people try to eat healthily, 2018-22
- Graph 24: Google Trends search index for selected terms, January 2022-December 2023
- Graph 25: trends in the age structure of the UK population, 2018-28
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What Consumers Want and Why
- Usage of CSDs
- Graph 26: usage of CSDs, by type, 2020-23
- Graph 27: where carbonated soft drinks have been drunk in the last month (net), by type, 2020-23
- Graph 28: frequency of drinking diet and non-diet CSDs, 2022 and 2023
- Graph 29: drinking diet and non-diet CSDs at least once a day, by age, 2023
- Graph 30: CSDs usage and switching to cheaper variants, by financial health, 2023
- Behaviours related to carbonated soft drinks
- Graph 31: behaviours related to carbonated soft drinks, 2023
- Concepts of interest in carbonated soft drinks
- Graph 32: concepts of interest in carbonated soft drinks, 2023
- Graph 33: interest in CSDs with natural flavourings and no artificial sweeteners among users and non-users of CSDs, 2023
- Graph 34: CSDs launches with free from added/artificial flavours and ingredients claims, 2019-23
- Attitudes towards carbonated soft drinks
- Graph 35: behaviours related to carbonated soft drinks, 2023
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Innovation And Marketing Trends
- Launch activity and innovation
- Graph 36: CSDs launches by sugar content per 100ml, 2019-23
- Graph 37: sugar and calorie claims in CSDs launches, 2019-23
- Graph 38: functional and fortified claims in CSDs launches, 2019-23
- Graph 39: seasonal and limited edition launches in CSDs, 2019-23
- Graph 40: CSDs launches by launch type, 2019-23
- Graph 41: ethical claims in CSDs launches, 2019-23
- Advertising and marketing activity
- Graph 42: above-the-line, online display and direct mail advertising expenditure on CSDs, by advertiser 2019-22
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Brand Research
- Graph 43: attitudes towards selected brands in the CSDs market, 2023
- Graph 44: brand personality – macro image, selected brands in the CSDs market, 2023
- Graph 45: brand personality – micro image of selected brands in the CSDs market, 2023
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Appendix
- Supplementary data – market segmentation
- Supplementary data – market share
- Supplementary data – social, environmental and legal factors
- Supplementary data – innovation
- Market forecast data and methodology
- Report scope and definitions
- Methodology
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