COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE
Coca-Cola provides first update to the taste of Aquarius in 20 years
Coca-Cola (Japan) Co Ltd continues to lead sports drinks in 2025, largely due to the success of its flagship product, Aquarius. There has been a significant revamp of Aquarius in 2025, with this being the first major taste modification in 20 years.
Pocari Sweat benefits from heatstroke awareness campaigns
Otsuka Holdings Co Ltd, Coca-Cola’s closest rival in sports drinks, has been the most dynamic company in 2025. Otsuka’s Pocari Sweat brand was notably adopted as the heatstroke countermeasure for staff at the Japan International Exposition held in Osaka in 2025.
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Overview:
Understand the latest market trends and future growth opportunities for the Sports Drinks industry in Japan 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.
If you're in the Sports Drinks industry in Japan, our research will help you to make informed, intelligent decisions; to recognise and profit from opportunity, or to offer resilience amidst market uncertainty.
The Sports Drinks in Japan 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 Sports Drinks in Japan?
- To what extent are health considerations impacting consumption of Sports Drinks in Japan?
- 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 Sports Drinks in Japan?
- Which are the leading brands in Sports Drinks in Japan?
- What potential exists for multinational or domestic soft drinks companies to expand in Japan?
- How are products distributed in Sports Drinks in Japan?
- 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 Sports 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?
Sports Drinks in Japan - Category analysis
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Sports drinks sales hard hit by price increases
Sales decline amidst price hikes
Demand drops as soaring temperatures limit outdoor activities
Climate change could pose an ongoing threat to sales of sports drinks
Heightened role of sports drinks in heatstroke prevention
Increasing competition could challenge sports drinks
Coca-Cola provides first update to the taste of Aquarius in 20 years
Pocari Sweat benefits from heatstroke awareness campaigns
Vending remains the leading distribution channel despite challenges
E-commerce and convenience stores pick up share
Soft Drinks in Japan - Industry Overview
Rising prices put pressure on volume sales in 2025
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Price rises lead to a decline in off-trade volume sales of soft drinks in 2025
Functional soft drinks gain prominence
Innovation has become faster, riskier, and more culturally embedded
Shrinking population likely to limit opportunities for volume growth
Healthy and natural products likely to attract more interest moving forward
Vending evolving as it looks to meet the needs of modern consumers
Coca-Cola and Suntory continue to invest in product development and innovation
Nippon Del Monte finds success with new line of tomato juice
Label-less products gain traction as online sales rise
On-trade volume sales continue to recover buoyed by interest in RTD tea
Fountain sales in Japan
COUNTRY REPORTS DISCLAIMER
The following categories and subcategories are included:
Sports Drinks
- Regular Sports Drinks
- Reduced Sugar Sports Drinks
Sports Drinks
The choice of sports drink usually depends on the provision of fluids, carbohydrates or both. Included into this subsector are isotonic, hypotonic and hypertonic sports drinks. Isotonic are products that replace lost body fluids, electrolytes (sodium, potassium and chlorides) and glucose in similar concentrations to existing body fluid without causing either swelling or shrinkage of cells. These products usually contain about 5-8% carbohydrate and are intended to be consumed during exercise and/or heat exposure. Hypotonic this product is a weaker solution than your body fluid. These drinks contain less carbohydrate and therefore have lower osmolality (fewer dissolved particles than blood). These drinks help the body to speed up water absorption and are best used when you need urgent fluid replacement, as in after exercise. These drinks are not the best for energy replacement. Hypertonic - this drink is a stronger solution than your body fluid. These drinks are designed to replace and maintain energy levels during exercise of at least one hour. They are absorbed slowly and therefore are not appropriate for fluid replacement. Leading brands in off-trade volume include Gatorade, Powerade and Aquarius. This is the aggregated total of regular and reduced sugar Sports Drinks
See all of our definitionsWhy buy this report?
- Gain competitive intelligence about market leaders
- Track key industry trends, opportunities and threats
- Inform your marketing, brand, strategy and market development, sales and supply functions
This report originates from Passport, our Sports Drinks research and analysis database.
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