The hot weather in 2025 and 2026 has boosted sales of sports drinks in particular, while the focus and mood boost connotations of sports and energy drinks have helped protect sales even as consumer confidence has softened.
"Social occasions and added hydration hold potential for energy drinks. Flavour innovation is crucial for sports drinks to capitalise on the growing hydration focus."
Sam Fryers, Research Analyst
Enjoying the taste is the joint top reason to drink sports drinks, cited by 47% of users, on a par with hydration (44%). This fuels strong demand for flavour variety among users. Competition from innovative soft drinks in the hydration space dials up the pressing need for sports drinks to step up their game here and communicate around this aspect and enjoyment, a largely overlooked but powerful dimension.
The hot weather in 2025 and 2026 has boosted sales of sports drinks in particular, while the focus and mood boost connotations of sports and energy drinks have helped protect sales even as consumer confidence has softened. This has ensured continued volume growth.
For the purposes of this Report, Mintel has used the following definitions:
Sports drinks are drinks claiming to improve sporting performance or to speed up recovery. Most are labelled isotonic/hypotonic and claim to rehydrate and replenish nutrients after exercise. Examples include Lucozade Sport, Powerade and Gatorade.
Sports drinks include three major types:
Energy drinks are drinks positioned as providing energy, supporting mental alertness and/or physical performance. These typically include active ingredients such as glucose, caffeine, taurine or B-vitamins, and may include other ingredients positioned as beneficial to health, such as ginseng and various vitamins and minerals.
The energy drinks market comprises:
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