The Morning Advertiser’s annual Drinks List in association with data experts CGA gives a clear view of how some of the bigger brands are performing, but also how tastes, diets and trends in general are changing.
Here are some of their key findings:
- Sugar-free movement – there is a clear move towards sugar-free and lower sugar in the soft drinks category, with further growth in the no and low-alcohol beer category. The biggest winner in the segment this year is Heineken 0.0, which saw volume sales spike by 123.1%.
- Lager – despite continued dropping sales for the dominant lager brands Carling, Foster’s and Carlsberg, their rate of decline is slowing, and much of the lager category is in a positive place, with Amstel and Birra Moretti seeing the largest spikes in sales.
- Spirits – gin continues to do well, with most of the top 10 gin brands in this year’s list increasing in both volume and value terms, with the exception of Bombay Sapphire and Gordon’s. Gordon’s Pink is the hero of the category with volume sales growth of 185.3%.
- Cider – category leader Strongbow held its position as the number one (Strongbow) and two (Strongbow Dark Fruit) ciders, despite a dip in volume and value sales this year. Third place Thatchers Gold has shown increases in sales for both volume and value.
All data provided by CGA for the 12 months to 7 September 2019