1996 Top-10 US Soft Drinks

From Beverage Digest 2/7/97

1996 Top-10 U.S. CSD Numbers:
Coca-Cola Co Up Sharply. Colas Sluggish.

Total US 1996 carbonated soft drink (CSD) volume grows +3.6% to 9.3 bil 192-oz cases in Beverage Digest/Maxwell all-channel study. Industry expands faster than in 1995 when growth rate equals +3%. Only 3 of top-10 CSD companies -- Coke, Pepsi, Cott -- gain market share. Coca-Cola Co posts dramatic +0.8 corporate market share gain. Among top-10 brands, Coke's Sprite increases market share from 5.1 to 5.8. Sprite's share of 5.8 same as Dr Pepper and Mt Dew, but Sprite's case sales exceed Dr Pepper's by 4.6 mil, Mt Dew's by 5.9 mil. All brands gaining market share in 1996 are non-colas. Top-10 CSD data published with 35-year beverage expert John C. Maxwell, contributing editor of BD.

Table 1: All-Channel Corporate Shares 1996 vs. 1995
		1996	1995	Share	'96 Cases	'95 Cases	Volume	1995
	Companies	Share	Share	Change	(Millions)	(Millions)	% Chg.	Rank
1	Coca-Cola Co.	43.1	42.3	+0.8	4005.1	3798.0	+5.5	1
2	Pepsi-Cola Co.	31.0	30.9	+0.1	2880.6	2770.7	+4.0	2
3	Dr Pepper/Seven Up	14.8	15.3	-0.5	1373.6	1369.8	+0.3	3
4	Cott Corp.	2.9	2.7	+0.2	265.0	245.0	+8.2	4
5	National Beverage	1.9	1.9	flat	180.0	170.0	+5.9	6
6	Royal Crown	1.9	2.0	-0.1	176.2	180.2	-2.2	5
7	Monarch Co.	1.5	1.7	-0.2	140.5	148.6	-5.5	7
8	Double Cola Co.	0.3	0.3	flat	31.2	31.0	+0.6	8
9	Big Red	0.3	0.3	flat	28.3	27.2	+4.0	9
10	Private label/other	2.3	2.6	-0.3	209.5	229.5	-8.7	10
	Industry totals	100.0	100.0		9290.0	8970.0	+3.6

Table 2: All-Channel Top-10 Brands 1996 vs. 1995
		1996	1995	Share	'96 Cases	'95 Cases	Volume	1995
	Brands	Share	Share	Change	(Millions)	(Millions)	% Chg.	Rank
1	Coke Classic	20.8	20.8	flat	1929.2	1868.6	+3.2	1
2	Pepsi-Cola	14.9	15.0	-0.1	1384.6	1344.3	+3.0	2
3	Diet Coke	8.7	8.8	-0.1	811.4	793.0	+2.3	3
4	Sprite	5.8	5.1	+0.7	541.5	460.3	+17.6	7
5	Dr Pepper	5.8	5.7	+0.1	536.9	515.0	+4.3	5
6	Mt Dew	5.8	5.7	+0.1	535.6	509.6	+5.1	6
7	Diet Pepsi	5.7	5.8	-0.1	529.8	521.4	+1.6	4
8	7UP	2.4	2.5	-0.1	219.5	219.9	-0.2	8
9	CF Diet Coke	1.9	2.0	-0.1	180.1	182.9	-1.6	9
10	CF Diet Pepsi	1.0	1.1	-0.1	94.6	94.2	+0.4	10

Charts. Top table shows top-10 CSD information by company; bottom table shows top-10 brands. Details include market share and case sales for 1995 and 1996; also 1996 vs 1995 share and volume changes.

Companies. 1) only Coca-Cola Co, Pepsi-Cola Co and private label (PL) producer Cott gain corporate market share. Coke up +0.8 point. Pepsi up +0.1, Cott up +0.2. 2) 3rd-ranked Dr Pepper/Seven Up (DPSU) loses -0.5 share point; loss attributable to non-Dr Pepper brands. 3) National Beverage Corp moves ahead of Royal Crown Co to #5 rank; company's share flat while RC down -0.1 point. 4) Monarch Co share drops -0.2 point. 5) Double Cola Co and Big Red maintain #8 and #9 ranks; shares flat vs 1995. 6) market share of PL/others falls -0.3 point to 2.3. Volume. Coke, Pepsi, Cott, National Beverage, Big Red volume growth outpace industry. DPSU and Double Cola post small volume increases. Royal Crown, Monarch, PL/other lose volume.

Brands. 1) Sprite share up +0.7 point. 2) Dr Pepper and Mt Dew only other brands gaining share. Mt Dew now within 1.3 mil cases of Dr Pepper; ahead of #7-ranked Diet Pepsi. 3) neither leading cola brand -- Coke Classic/Pepsi-Cola -- gains share. Classic flat while Pepsi down -0.1. 4) each of 4 diet brands in top-10 -- Diet Coke, Diet Pepsi, Caffeine-Free (CF) Diet Coke, CF Diet Pepsi -- loses -0.1 share point. 5) DPSU's 7UP down -0.1 share point. 6) despite share loses by 7 of top-10 brands, top-10 group gains +0.3 share relative to entire industry mainly due to Sprite's explosive growth. Volume. All top-10 brands except 7UP, CF Diet Coke sell more cases in 1996 than 1995. 7UP volume down slightly, -0.2% or 400,000 cases, reversing trend of sharper volume declines in previous years. Only Sprite posts double-digit volume growth. Sprite, Dr Pepper and Mt Dew outpace CSD industry.

Notes. 1) data includes CSD sales in all channels: take-home, military, vending, fountain, etc. 2) Coca-Cola Co's share/volume includes Barq's from 8/95 acquisition; Barq's pre-8/95 volume in PL/other. 3) 1996 estimated; 1995 data restated. 10 years. 1987-1996 top-10 corporate and brand data in upcoming issue.

Also. Beverage Digest publishes BD/Maxwell top-10 alternative beverage data. Click here to read that article. Top-10 data and much more included in Beverage Digest's 1997 Fact Book. Click here for information.

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