A positive year for hot drinks

Volume sales of hot drinks rise in 2025 despite rising costs as consumers continued to demand wellness, indulgence and experiential products

The demand for hot drinks continues to benefit from Tanzania’s growing population, rising disposable incomes, and increasing urbanisation, all of which are reshaping household consumption habits. However, despite the country’s progress in exporting commodities such as tea, coffee, and cocoa, local processing capabilities remain limited. This leaves the market vulnerable to global supply chain disruptions. As a result, prices have continued to rise, impacting demand among price-sensitive consumer

Hot drinks habits hold firm as coffee gains everyday relevance

In Sri Lanka, retail volume sales of hot drinks slowed in 2025, primarily as a result of price increases brought on by taxes, pressures on input costs, and volatile commodities markets. Tea, suffered from price hikes brought on by VAT as well as consumer downtrading into less expensive packs. While other hot drinks, such as malt-based hot drinks, saw a decline in popularity as affordability and health worries over sugar tightened household budgets, coffee showed a moderate increase, helped by yo

In 2025, demand for hot drinks in Uganda was driven by a rising population and urbanisation. Coffee was a key growth driver, supported by an expanding middle-class and stronger local consumption. Tea faced pricing pressures and climate-related challenges, although herbal and green teas gained from wellness trends. Malt-based drinks recorded steady growth through affordability strategies. Looking ahead, urbanisation, a young, growing middle class, local supply chain investment, wellness demand an

Retail value sales of hot drinks experienced low single-digit growth in 2025. This was mainly driven by growing habitual consumption through urbanisation and population growth, product innovation including new brands launching more affordable alternatives and retail footprint expansion. On the other hand, this category is experiencing growing barriers to sustainable growth due to negative macroenvironment factors including high inflation rates, armed conflicts disrupting coffee and tea supply ch

Hot drinks in Qatar maintained positive momentum in 2025 despite higher input costs for tea, coffee and packaging pushing up retail prices and triggering some consumer frustration. Demand is still anchored in daily and ceremonial habits, with Arabic coffee and black tea continuing to sit at the centre of hospitality - especially in majlis settings and during Ramadan, Eid and national celebrations. At the same time, premium segments such as specialty coffee and wellness-positioned teas are rising

Hot drinks in Lebanon recorded strong value growth in 2025, with consumption patterns increasingly shaped by pricing pressure and uneven recovery across regions. Coffee continues to anchor everyday rituals and out-of-home occasions, while tea is gaining incremental traction on health cues despite weaker innovation and limited local scale. Import dependence keeps costs exposed to global commodity and packaging inflation, pushing consumers towards lower-priced brands and unpackaged herbal alternat

In 2025, both retail volume and value sales of hot drinks rose in 2025. Value growth was higher than volume growth highlighting inflation-driven price hikes, largely attributed to higher production and transportation costs. Tea, which was the most dynamic category, continues to hold its place as a cultural mainstay in Oman, widely enjoyed by both Omani nationals and expatriates from the Middle East and Asia. Traditional preferences are centred on black tea, available in both loose leaf and bagge

India has large and youthful population and this remained a key growth driver for hot drinks in 2025. Alongside cultural staples like black tea, consumers also showed growing interest in more varied and premium offerings, with younger consumers in particular keen to try new experiences. Sales of coffee and other hot drinks were also boosted by a reduction in the Goods and Services Tax on these products, which was dropped from 18% to 5%.

This briefing examines where consumers buy hot drinks and how distribution is evolving. Offline grocery remains the backbone, but value and convenience are reshaping winners, while hypermarkets decline in many mature markets. Retail e-commerce is still small, but is increasingly capturing incremental growth through planned replenishment, premium formats and search-led discovery. Expected channel shifts can be converted into practical actions to defend share and unlock value growth.

This report will analyse and evaluate the drivers behind consumption of tea in Asia Pacific, as well as how leading tea shops are reshaping consumption through premium and affordable strategies. Moreover, we will also evaluate their success and long-term strategic plans to be a global brand, and how incumbent brands can respond and thrive in an increasingly competitive environment.

The rise of Gen Alpha in Asia is redefining consumer behaviour, with a focus on ultra-convenience, digital integration, and health and wellbeing, creating opportunities for brands to innovate and capture a significant share of the region's growing consumer market, worth over USD10 trillion.

The country’s GDP grew 3.6% in 2025, placing it among the strongest economies in the region. In this regard, the World Bank (WB) updated its global economic projections and placed Paraguay as the second-fastest-growing economy in the year, behind Argentina. Consequently, income levels rose and living standards improved, resulting in further expansion of the middle class and a further erosion of poverty. These positive economic indicators boosted purchasing power and an expansion of middle and up

Panama's economy is projected to grow by 4% in 2025, rebounding from the previous year. The recovery is driven by investments in infrastructure and growth in non-mining sectors such as finance, logistics, and services. In this context, inflation has been stable at 0.8%. Given this context, hot drinks sales recorded growth in both retail volume and current value terms, although value growth far outpaced volume expansion. This was largely driven by the sharp increase in coffee prices, which signif

Spurred by macro uncertainty and the cross-pollination of clinical, illicit and wellbeing trends, transgressive wellness is prompting consumers to re-examine their relationships with emerging and taboo substances, disrupting existing consumption routines across FMCGs and rebalancing the USD3 trillion wellness industry.

Coffee remains Côte d'Ivoire’s most popular hot drink and there is also increasing demand for more premium offerings, as well as coffee with local provenance. However, tea registers higher growth, with offerings with functional benefits driving growth.

Hot drinks competition is being shaped less by share battles than by pricing, mix and premium ladders. Emerging markets are driving volume, while mature markets are still driving value through pods, beans and higher value soluble. EUDR makes traceability a capability test, while the proposed Keurig Dr Pepper-JDE story signals a higher bar for scale and execution.

As the world's largest tea and infusions company, Lipton, with its portfolio of 36 world-famous and local brands, drives industry progress through its commitment to sustainability, quality and innovation. The company is currently focusing on introducing bold new flavours with natural ingredients, such as its recent launch of a new fruit/herbal range in the US and UK. Lipton is also committed to promoting sustainable agricultural practices through its Lipton Tea Innovation & Technology Academy.

Hot drinks in 2025 showed positive growth in retail value sales in Honduras. This is largely due to the fact that the most demanded product, coffee, registered constant price increases. International coffee prices showed volatility as a result of climate impacts, which led to a reduction in production volumes in important producing countries such as Brazil and Vietnam. This effect was also reflected in higher retail prices in the local market. Despite this, consumers were not willing to give up

Retail sales of hot drinks rose in both value and volume terms in 2025. The economy in El Salvador experienced some stability with inflation under control, although growth was slow with World Bank projections predicting GDP growth of 2.7% for 2025, one of the lowest rates in the region. This scenario left little scope for the premiumisation of hot drinks consumption. While value sales growth was positive, the positive performance was largely due to price increases, mainly of coffee in internatio

Retail sales of hot drinks in Ghana grew in current value terms in 2025, driven primarily by inflation and rising input costs. Urbanisation, retail expansion, and a growing coffee culture among affluent consumers are supporting demand, while rising health consciousness is boosting interest in green tea and other and functional beverages. Local producers and niche brands are increasingly competing alongside multinationals through value-for-money or wellness-focused offerings, while small local gr

In 2025, retail sales of hot drinks in Ethiopia registered dynamic growth in current value terms, driven mainly by rising prices, which boosted demand for affordable local coffee and tea. Coffee remained a key driver, supported by cultural traditions and expanding premium café experiences, while tea benefited from wellness trends. Small local grocers dominated volume sales, with supermarkets and forecourt retailers growing in urban areas. Moving forward, urbanisation, modern coffee chains, and g