UK soft drink sales grow 5% to £14.5bn

Consumption grew by 0.7 % to top more than 14.6bn litres, or 253.3 litres per person, based on research from the British Soft Drinks Association (BSDA), with data from Zenith International.

Richard Laming, BSDA media director, said: “The business climate may have been difficult, but the soft drinks industry is a living example of how long-term commitment can lead to long-term success.”​

Bottled water​

Last year bottled water consumption climbed by 2.2% to reach 33.6 litres per person.

Consumption of carbonates rose by 4.1%. Diet, low calorie or no added sugar products account for 38% of the category.

Fruit juice and smoothies grew in retail value by 4.2% to reach £1.8bn and, with a volume of 1160M litres – enough to provide 124 servings of fruit juice per person.

Meanwhile, still and juice drinks consumption increased by 1.2% to reach 1.47bn litres.

Other soft drink facts​

• Dilutables retail value up by 3.7% to £945M
• Sports and energy drinks grew by 10% to reach 660M litres