Soft drinks in 2024: The big picture
Soft drinks in India is set to maintain double-digit volume and current value growth both off-trade and on-trade in 2024, with increases anticipated by all measures across all categories. Several factors have been contributing to this robust growth, including per capita consumption rising from a low base, a youthful demographic, widespread electrification, and a warm climate.
2024 key trends
Since the pandemic, Coca-Cola India and PepsiCo India Holdings have prioritised increasing volume sales over price increases, absorbing inflationary pressures. However, the entry of Reliance Consumer Products with its aggressively priced Campa Cola, a carbonates brand, offering distributors higher margins, intensified the competitive landscape.
Competitive landscape
Coca-Cola India is shifting its focus, mirroring PepsiCo’s model by prioritising brand-building and delegating bottling operations to local partners. This strategy involves divesting from direct bottling operations and relying on third-party bottlers for production and distribution.
Retailing developments
Expanding their market reach and capitalising on the burgeoning quick commerce channel are key priorities for major players in soft drinks, as India’s per capita consumption of soft drinks lags far behind the global average. Coca-Cola India and PepsiCo currently reach approximately 4-5 million retail outlets across India.
Foodservice vs retail split
Even after a period of post-pandemic “revenge spending”, the Indian foodservice industry is still continuing its road to recovery. Rising costs, including increased rent and the pressure to maintain menu prices, have been impacting sales.
What next for soft drinks?
Soft drinks in India is set to see double-digit CAGRs in both volume and current value terms both off-trade and on-trade in the forecast period. Smaller pack sizes, primarily 200ml and 250ml SKUs, will drive soft drinks consumption as companies prioritise affordability and sales, particularly in out-of-home settings.
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Overview:
Understand the latest market trends and future growth opportunities for the Soft Drinks industry in India with research from Euromonitor International's team of in-country analysts – experts by industry and geographic specialisation.
Key trends are clearly and succinctly summarised alongside the most current research data available. Understand and assess competitive threats and plan corporate strategy with our qualitative analysis, insight and confident growth projections.
Data and analysis in this report provides further detailed coverage dedicated to the following key categories, where applicable:
- Bottled Water
- Carbonates
- Concentrates
- Juice
- RTD Coffee
- RTD Tea
- Energy Drinks
- Sports Drinks
- Asian Speciality Drinks
If you're in the Soft Drinks industry in India, our research will help you to make informed, intelligent decisions; to recognise and profit from opportunity, or to offer resilience amidst market uncertainty.
The Soft Drinks in India report includes:
- Analysis of key supply-side and demand trends
- Detailed segmentation of international and local products
- Historic volume and value sizes, company and brand market shares
- Five year forecasts of market trends and market growth
- Robust and transparent research methodology, conducted in-country
This report answers:
- What is the market size of Soft Drinks in India?
- To what extent are health considerations impacting consumption of Soft Drinks in India?
- How are changing social attitudes and legislation (eg sugar tax) reshaping demand and consumption?
- How are changing demographics (for example, an ageing or predominantly young population) determining consumption of Soft Drinks in India?
- Which are the leading brands in Soft Drinks in India?
- What potential exists for multinational or domestic soft drinks companies to expand in India?
- How are products distributed in Soft Drinks in India?
- How is the rise of e-commerce changing the retail and competitive landscape?
- How have home seclusion and social distancing measures following COVID-19 impacted sales of Soft Drinks?
- How are sustainability issues, such as environmentally-friendly packaging, legislation on recyclability, or the amount of plastic in bottles, impacting the soft drinks industry?
- Where is future growth expected to be most dynamic?
Soft Drinks in India
Soft drinks in 2024: The big picture
2024 key trends
Competitive landscape
Retailing developments
Foodservice vs retail split
What next for soft drinks?
Fountain sales in India
Trends
DISCLAIMER
Bottled Water in India
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Bottled water sees growth amidst water scarcity and health concerns, but not without its own set of challenges
Quick commerce model benefits bottled water across urban centres in India
Companies come up with sustainable packaging solutions to tackle the plastic problem
Health awareness will continue to drive growth of bottled water over the forecast period
Players in still bottled water unable to make pricing adjustments due to regional and counterfeit products
State governments actively work to reduce pollution caused by single-use plastics, particularly smaller pack sizes
Carbonates in India
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Electrification, value over volume approach, and explosion of quick commerce drive sales of carbonates in India
Stakeholders in carbonates seek tax reduction
Success of Reliance Consumer Products prompts Coca-Cola India and PepsiCo India Holdings to explore the launch of more affordable options
Carbonates set to maintain solid growth potential
Movements in bottling and distribution likely to contribute to growth
Sugar is a significant point of contention for carbonates players, and the primary obstacle to greater uptake
Concentrates in India
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Growth is maintained for concentrates, although at a slow pace compared with overall soft drinks
Pioma Industries leads concentrates, supported by fortification, product development, affordability, and accessibility
Supply chain issues and inflation pose challenges, and concern over hyperlocal delivery players
Solid growth expected, but challenge from inflation and other soft drinks
Versatility in various applications and the focus on rural consumers set to underpin growth in concentrates
Players will have to highlight functional ingredients and inclusion of natural ingredients
Juice in India
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Juice, particularly juice drinks, is dominated by smaller pack sizes
The price war in carbonates makes these more attractive to consumers, impacting sales of nectars
Regulations guide consumer choice in juice in India
The untapped potential of a young demographic and low per capita consumption
Companies expand and alter their production capacity to meet the rising demand
Blurring of category lines is the next big opportunity for juice players in India
RTD Tea in India
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Growth continues for RTD tea, although sales are low within overall soft drinks
Hindustan Unilever maintains its dominance despite rising competition
Although a fledgling category, carbonated RTD tea and kombucha sees exceptional growth, fuelled by health benefits
Kombucha set to see the strongest performance moving forward
Carbonated tea and kombucha likely to see changes in the competitive landscape
Increasing number of reduced sugar variants of still RTD tea expected
Energy Drinks in India
KEY DATA FINDINGS
PepsiCo India’s Sting has successfully democratised energy drinks, previously perceived as a premium category
Concern about and regulation of caffeine prevents stronger uptake of energy drinks
High prices limit sales of energy drinks
India’s young and gaming demographics will continue to drive the growth of energy drinks during the forecast period
Sting, as an economic alternative, will continue to drive sales
Small pack sizes and PET packaging will continue to dominate during the forecast period
Sports Drinks in India
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Perception of sports drinks, combined with a lack of reduced sugar alternatives, limits the growth potential
Gatorade holds a commanding share amongst a relatively small number of players
Coca-Cola has explored divergent strategies for sports drinks over the years, and it has settled for a volume over value approach
Coca-Cola’s mass marketing will hinder the competition’s ability to increase prices during the forecast period
Growth potential due to rising health consciousness and Fit India
Forecast period could be an opportune time for the launch of healthier variants
The following categories and subcategories are included:
Soft Drinks
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- Carbonated Natural Mineral Bottled Water
- Carbonated Spring Bottled Water
- Carbonated Purified Bottled Water
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- Still Flavoured Bottled Water
- Sparkling Flavoured Bottled Water
- Functional Bottled Water
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- Still Natural Mineral Bottled Water
- Still Spring Bottled Water
- Still Purified Bottled Water
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- Regular Carbonates
- Reduced Sugar Carbonates
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- Regular Cola Carbonates
- Reduced Sugar Cola Carbonates
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- Regular Non-Cola Carbonates
- Reduced Sugar Non-Cola Carbonates
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- Regular Lemonade/Lime
- Reduced Sugar Lemonade/Lime
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- Regular Tonic Water/Mixers/Other Bitters
- Reduced Sugar Tonic Water/Mixers/Other Bitters
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- Regular Orange Carbonates
- Reduced Sugar Orange Carbonates
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- Regular Other Non-Cola Carbonates
- Reduced Sugar Other Non-Cola Carbonates
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- Liquid Concentrates
- Powder Concentrates
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- Not from Concentrate 100% Juice
- Reconstituted 100% Juice
- Coconut and Other Plant Waters
- Juice Drinks (up to 24% Juice)
- Nectars
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- RTD Coffee
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- Carbonated RTD Tea and Kombucha
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- Regular Still RTD Tea
- Reduced Sugar Still RTD Tea
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- Regular Energy Drinks
- Reduced Sugar Energy Drinks
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- Regular Sports Drinks
- Reduced Sugar Sports Drinks
- Asian Speciality Drinks
Soft Drinks
This is the aggregation of the following categories; Carbonates, Fruit/vegetable juice, Bottled water, Functional drinks, Concentrates, RTD tea, RTD coffee and Asian speciality drinks.
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This report originates from Passport, our Soft Drinks research and analysis database.
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