No room at the top in soft drinks market
in 2006 accounting for more than a third of global sales in the
sector, according to market analyst Euromonitor.
Both companies remain significantly ahead of their rivals, reflecting the increasingly competitive nature of the soft drinks market. The big two The Coca-Cola Company accounted for 25.6 per cent of the world's soft drinks sales, almost double the amount of rival PepsiCo, which holds a 13.4 per cent share of the market, said Euromonitor. Both companies appear to be keen to extend their focus by expanding into growing segments for soft drink production. In the last month Coca-Cola has revealed it is extending began researching benefits of Chinese herbal remedies to target growing demand for nutritional benefits and functionality in their products. PepsiCo at the same time has increased its focus in production of non-carbonated beverages with juice in particular becoming important to its operations. Nestle taps demand Nestle, which is currently the world's leading supplier of bottled water products through its Nestle Waters brand, was ranked third accounting for 3.4 per cent of total sales. Cadbury spin off Cadbury Schweppes lay closely behind with a three per cent market share, with the upcoming spin off of the American beverages arm as a separate entity on the New York Stock Exchange and any potential sale that follows likely to shake up the market. The US beverage arm accounts for 80 per cent of Cadbury Schweppes' remaining beverage sales, the company said. Danone Group Danone, the world's leading dairy producer was the fifth largest player on the list, on account of a mixed portfolio of bottled water and flavoured juices, granting the company a 2.4 per cent market share. With the group's recent acquisition of Numico and its increased focus on nutrition products, a possible extension of its functional beverage brands could help raise its market share further. Asian influence Three of the final five beverage companies making up the top ten all came from Asia, reflecting the growing significance of the region and the markets on global taste and markets. Japanese brewers Suntory and Kirin were sixth and seventh in the list with respective market shares of 1.3 and one per cent, Euromonitor said. National counterpart the Otsuka Pharmaceutical company was in tenth place with a 0.8 per cent market share. Energised demand In reflecting the growing importance of more functional beverages, Energy drink group Red Bull, best known for its flagship Red Bull brand, was in eight place accounting for one per cent of total global beverage sales. This has come despite some controversy over levels of caffeine present in the drink, leading to an outright ban of the product in France. Kraft Foods Kraft foods was ranked as the ninth largest soft drinks manufacturer holding a 0.8 per cent share of the market.
