CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY REPORT 2009
We report these market
dynamics through our annual
Soft Drinks Report.
Please click on the chart to enlarge
The soft drinks market
It is impossible to report on 2008 without addressing the economic downturn and its impact upon our business and our consumers. While four key trends still drive this market (health, indulgence, convenience and ethical concerns), the economic downturn has affected the way consumers are shopping.
In the current economic climate, consumers have looked to reduce their overall grocery bills, often through promotions and own label alternatives. However, within soft drinks, consumers have resisted trading down to own-label from the brands they trust and that offer quality at good value. With another tough year ahead, our challenge is to keep delivering the combination of value and quality that consumers expect.
Nonetheless, soft drinks continue to meet consumer needs for many reasons - including taste, enjoyment, health and hydration. Here are some of the highlights from the market in 2008:
- UK soft drinks sales totalled £8.4bn, just 1% lower than the previous year’s record figure
- Take-home sales, accounting for almost 75% of this market, grew by 1% in value. This growth was largely driven by glucose, energy and sports drinks. Traditional favourites such as cola, squash and juice drinks held up well.
- On-premise had a more difficult year although the growing emphasis on food and families favoured soft drinks. While sales were down 4% by value and 6% by volume, they still outperformed the total alcoholic drinks sector. Cola and lemonade remained pub staples. Family friendly fruit juice and juice drinks performed most strongly.
Our brands’ performance
Strong performance from core brands, combined with our innovation and product launch programme, has contributed to strong financial performance.
Robinsons continues to go from strength to strength and Fruit Shoot continues to play an important part in keeping children hydrated. Fruit Shoot H2O is now the number one kids’ water and Fruit Shoot 100% provides an easy way to meet one of the recommended five-a-day.
Pepsi and 7UP also performed well and our close relationship with brand owner PepsiCo has been instrumental in achieving this performance.
J2O remains the number one packaged drink in licensed on-premise, despite the challenging market conditions.
Our strong market positions, balanced portfolio and track record in innovation has enabled us to deliver the quality and value that consumers want, whilst meeting our commitments as a responsible business.