Soft drinks in 2024: The big picture
Soft drinks in Ireland is creeping back into positive, albeit sub-decimal, off-trade volume growth in 2024, following the small negative slump seen in 2023. This is attributed to a slowdown in price increases and the start of stabilisation in inflation, which is also reflected in a slower rate of value growth seen in 2024 compared to 2023.
2024 key trends
Health and wellness trends continue to shape the soft drinks industry. Indeed, such trends have now become intrinsic to the soft drinks industry, as they evolve to meet specific and tailored consumer demands.
Competitive landscape
The biggest names in soft drinks in Ireland are Coca-Cola HBC Ireland Ltd and Britvic Ireland Ltd, with these two giants being the only ones holding overall double-digit company shares in both value and volume terms. This is also reflected in overall brand terms, with the top brand being Coca-Cola, followed by Britvic’s Ballygowan, then with Coca-Cola Zero in overall third brand place, and Britvic’s 7-Up in overall fourth brand place.
Retailing developments
Supermarkets maintains its leading distribution share in Ireland in 2024, followed by small local grocers. Sales via the latter are supported by impulse purchases by consumers on-the-go, which has become a notable trend again in the post-pandemic landscape.
Foodservice vs retail split
On-trade sales are seeing small positive volume gains, albeit at lower levels of growth than seen in recent years following the foodservice rebound after the era of the pandemic. This is partly attributed to a normalisation effect following the atypical crashes and spikes seen in sales due to the pandemic restrictions and subsequent reopening of society, and partly due to consumer price-sensitivity, as the cost-of-living crisis has led many people to be more selective about how they spend their money.
What next for soft drinks?
Health and wellness will be a prevailing trend in soft drinks over the forecast period, both in reduced-sugar options and functional drinks. As the health trends continue to develop, we expect to see increasingly tailored consumer demands and an increase in drinks with relevant health benefits.
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Overview:
Understand the latest market trends and future growth opportunities for the Soft Drinks industry in Ireland 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 Ireland, 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 Ireland 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 Ireland?
- To what extent are health considerations impacting consumption of Soft Drinks in Ireland?
- 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 Ireland?
- Which are the leading brands in Soft Drinks in Ireland?
- What potential exists for multinational or domestic soft drinks companies to expand in Ireland?
- How are products distributed in Soft Drinks in Ireland?
- 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 Ireland
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 Ireland
DISCLAIMER
Bottled Water in Ireland
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Bottled water maintains positive value and volume gains
Ballygowan, Deep RiverRock and Volvic maintain their leading places
Recyclability and sustainability remain a key focus for leading brands
Water quality concerns on the rise, supporting an increase in bottled water consumption
Functional bottled water tipped as an ongoing area to watch
Deposit Return Scheme and the European Single-Use Plastic (SUP) Directive
Carbonates in Ireland
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Health trends dampen the growth of carbonates
Sustainability remains a key focus
Leading cola carbonates brands focus on low-sugar innovations and marketing strategies
Carbonates sees both opportunities and challenges ahead
Deposit Return Scheme and potential impacts
Carbonates players need to compete with energy drinks and sports drinks
Concentrates in Ireland
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Concentrates sees small positive volume gains off-trade, but remains in a slump on-trade
Health and wellness trends influence developments in concentrates
Private label fares well in concentrates, thanks to wide ranges of affordable offerings
New packaging and new flavours could save a stagnating category
Various opportunities seen in powder concentrates
Sustainability trends notable across all categories, including concentrates
Concentrates Conversions
Juice in Ireland
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Juice faces a number of challenges whilst still having opportunities to explore
Price-sensitive consumers trade-down to private label
Health and wellness trends promote cold-pressed juice options
Different formats can benefit from different consumption occasions, from “shots” to family-pack sized juices
More fruit shortages, especially oranges, could lead to further price increases
Further innovations in ingredients and personalisation trends expected
RTD Coffee in Ireland
KEY DATA FINDINGS
RTD coffee maintains healthy value and volume growth
Health and wellness trends influence developments in RTD coffee
Starbucks maintains strong lead in a small competitive category
Small category with opportunities for ongoing growth
The EU Deforestation Regulation, costs of coffee, and implications for the category
Decaf coffee options set to become a further health-focussed trend
RTD Tea in Ireland
KEY DATA FINDINGS
RTD tea enjoys positive growth all round, thanks to aligning with a number of evolving trends
Carbonated RTD tea and kombucha has ongoing scope for excellent growth
Lipton maintains its strong lead with no competition to speak of
RTD tea expected to see ongoing growth, albeit at slightly lower levels
Carlsberg acquires Britvic’s soft drinks portfolio
Further new product developments expected over the forecast period
Energy Drinks in Ireland
KEY DATA FINDINGS
2024 marks another positive year for energy drinks
The giants of Monster and Red Bull remain the top competitors
Increased brand engagement through music and gaming partnerships
Energy drinks set to see ongoing robust growth
Sustainability trends and new flavour profiles will continue to influence energy drinks
Health and wellness trends will remain strong, creating both challenges and opportunities for energy drinks
Sports Drinks in Ireland
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Sports drinks proves to be a buoyant category
Consumers demand reduced-sugar sports drinks and natural ingredients
Lucozade maintains its lead in a relatively small category
Evolving consumer needs will inspire new formulations
Sustainability trends set to influence sports drinks
An influx of new brands could boost competition within sports drinks
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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