Popularity of sports, energy drinks pushed value sales of water-based drinks

Value sales in water-based drinks (excluding tea, coffee, juices, nectars and water additives) in Europe – grew by 9 per cent in in the year to end August 2022, mainly driven by inflationary trends, states a recent report, which also states that price increase across more than half of all water drinks products has not led to reduced demand.

According to analysis from IRI’s data, volume sales of water-based drinks has grown by 3.4 per cent, the equivalent of 1.7 billion units. The growth was mainly driven by sports and energy drinks that saw 9.7 per cent average growth while carbonates saw 0.6 per cent increase and 4.2 per cent for water.

“The water-based drinks category is largely resilient to inflationary trends,” commented Ananda Roy, Global SVP, Strategic Growth Insights, IRI.

“We can see this is the case across key European markets, despite 55 per cent of ranges being at higher prices. Despite the growth in volumes, the IRI data indicates that consumers are not uniform in their choices, implying strategic decisions are being made.”

“As sales of fruit juice and nectar products continue to decline, it seems that consumers are looking to manage costs as well as make healthier choices.”

Roy said that particularly in the UK, “where consumers are having to trade down and reassess what’s affordable for them,” it will be critical to ensure that “there are a range of healthy options coupled with new product innovation and the right distribution strategy.”

However, IRI has warned that regulation, bans and price caps highlight the cost of ‘doing nothing.’

“Consumers are not willing to swallow the environmental impact of drink packaging, fossil fuel, water and greenhouse gas use,” according to Roy. “As they become more aware of the carbon footprint and transportation, water miles, packaging weight and use, this will influence their purchase decisions.”