GUESTS choosing to have a soft drink instead of wine or beer at a summer barbecue helped grow the adult soft drinks market by 4.6% over the last year according to Coca-Cola Enterprises.
Wholesale director Simon Harrison said: “We expect the sector to remain popular for those planning barbecues as drinks such as Appletiser make an effective replacement for bottles of wine or beer for those choosing not to consume alcoholic drinks.
“Three Schweppes sparkling juice drinks are now available to tap into the popularity of adult soft drinks.”
He said one of the fastest growing soft drinks sectors is bottled water, which he says grew by 12.6% to reach a value of £672.9m over the last year.
He added that Coca-Cola Enterprises is committed to innovating to meet demand for new products and cited the launch of Coca-Cola Life last year.
He said: “Coca-Cola Life already has £15m in value since it went on sale last September, and it will offer a great opportunity for incremental growth this summer.”
He said Fanta recorded value growth of 5.6% last year and predicted further growth since the introduction of the Apple and Sour Cherry variant. That follows £2.5m of sales for Raspberry and Passionfruit last year.
“Bold flavour is always a winner in summer,” he said.
