Multiple Interwoven Trends Combine To Pummel Carbonated Soda Sales

Despite 90 percent market penetration in the U.S., the mature carbonated soft drink (CSD) industry needs to innovate to reverse 13 years of declining sales volumes, according to analysts who advise suppliers to combat adverse trends by offering more healthful options, varied flavors, and other benefits. Innovation in these areas must involve effective marketing to Generation Z and Millennials, and to increasingly diverse ethnic populations. Factors contributing to stagnated CSD value sales have included the rise of the health-and-wellness movement, the declining effectiveness of value-adding strategies, and increased competition. Health-conscious consumers are spurning sugary CSDs and artificially-sweetened diet CSDs – about 20 percent of consumers have trimmed soda intake. Mintel says the number and range of competitive beverages, many claiming to offer health benefits, is “a prime challenge to the CSD market.”