Innovation to spur on sports drink demand

In 2007 alone, 11.5 billion litres of the products were consumed, up 5.9 per cent over the previous year, aided by a growing interest in health and wellness, according to findings by research group Zenith international. Global per person consumption of sport drinks reached 1.8 litres as a result, suggested the findings.

Gary Roethenbaugh, market intelligence director for Zenith, said that the focus on the potential health benefits of the segment had been a key driver in emerging markets and that developments in formulation would continue to broaden the market.

“There is now a plethora of products available for all age and activity levels,”​ he stated. “More recent innovations include low calorie variants for calorie conscious consumers, drinks specifically formulated for active children and dairy-based recovery drinks”.​

Ongoing innovation​

The analyst said that ongoing innovation driving market growth was often focused on sport-energy drink hybrids, dairy-based recovery products and the use of natural ingredients like isotonic coconut water.

While Zenith claimed that the segment’s growth potential was already being reflected in ‘impressive’ consumption growth in previously underdeveloped sport drinks markets like Eastern Europe and the Middle East, North America continued to dominate demand market for the products with a 48 per cent share.

Asia Pacific remained the second largest market though, with 70 per cent of total demand coming from Chinese and Japanese consumers, the report stated.

As part of the findings, the analyst suggested that Coca-Cola and PepsiCo retained market dominance with their respective Powerade and Gatorade brands.