Future Trends

A number of powerful trends are driving the changes that the beverage industry is facing. These changes are predicted to fuel the growth of new categories and reshape old ones. These trends are:

Societal shift affecting health and wellness

Increasingly consumers are coming to view carbonated drinks—particularly those laden with sugar, caffeine and preservatives—with concern, if not disfavor. Indeed, much to the dismay of companies such as Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, carbonated drinks have been demonized by much of the nation’s press and become an object of considerable concern to the medical community, being seen as a primary cause of the nation’s growing obesity issue and as a contributing cause of cancer as recently reported in a number of major U.S. publications;

Emergence of new product categories

For much of the last century carbonated beverages dominated the soft drink industry.  Beginning in the 1990’s this began to change with the introduction of what was then styled “alternative beverages.” Alternative beverages were viewed as a healthier alternative to colas and quickly gained favor with the public and the attention of manufacturers of carbonated beverages. The category continued to grow and in time contributed to the birth of a number of new categories including: sports drinks, energy drinks, energy shots and nutraceuticals;