Soft drinks NPD on the up

New product activity in soft drinks appears to be on the up, with rising levels of global launch activity recorded by Innova Market Insights over the past two years.

Fruit juices and drinks dominated launch activity with over 43 per cent of the total, reflecting the extremely diverse range of products included in the category, says the market analyst. Carbonates took second place with 14 per cent, just ahead of concentrates and mixes, then iced tea and coffee drinks, sports and energy drinks, plain and flavored water and sports and energy drinks.

Over the past five years, the shares of carbonates, juices and juice drinks, concentrates and mixes and iced tea and coffee have risen, while the shares of bottled water (flavored and unflavored) and sports and energy drinks have fallen.

However, Lu Ann Williams, director of innovation at Innova Market Insights, says that a declining share of launch activity does not necessarily indicate a poor market performance overall.

“Sports and energy drinks remain one of the fastest growing sectors of the market over that period, despite their share of global soft drinks launch activity falling from a peak of 13 per cent in 2005 to just under seven per cent today,” she says. “Consolidation in the increasingly mature market, particularly the greater dominance of multinational brands and the disappearance of many smaller brands is probably the main reason for slowing activity rates, although actual launch numbers did still rise over the five-year period.”