Carbonated soft drinks are beverages that contain carbonated water and some mixture of sweetener, and flavoring. Often times, such beverages also contain other ingredients like caffeine and coloring. The soft in soft drinks is to distinguish the beverages as non-alcoholic, in contrast to alcoholic drinks which are sometimes called hard drinks. Carbonated soft drinks have been around in one form or another since the 17th century when they were originally created in an attempt to mimic naturally occurring spring water. It wasn't until the 18th century that the beverage became widely popular.
Market landscape
The total
value of the carbonated soft drinks market in the United Kingdom amounted to almost 9.5 billion British pounds in 2022. Like many beverage categories, carbonated soft drinks were greatly affected by the restrictions put in place on on-trade establishments due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, but since then the market value has grown significantly again. Sales of Coca-Cola, the top selling brand in
convenience stores, topped 780 million pounds. Carbonated soft drinks accounted for about 40 percent of the
soft drinks market in the UK in 2023, roughly the same as the share for non-carbonated soft drinks. Carbonated soft drinks are expected to lose some market share to energy and sports drinks by 2027.
Consumption
Total
consumption of carbonated soft drinks in the United Kingdom shrank to 5.4 billion liters in 2021, but peaked in the year that followed at nearly six billion liters.
Per capita consumption decreased as well, down to roughly 70 liters in 2023 from 76 liters in 2019. Per capita consumption of carbonated soft drinks has been on a steady decline for years, but 2021 was an exceptional year. A future continuation of the down trend is expected.
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