From Beverage Digest 4/25/97

1996 ALTERNATIVE BEVERAGES: STILL WATER UP SHARPLY. PERRIER, COKE, PEPSI AND SUNTORY GAIN SHARE.

Alternative beverages post +13% overall volume growth in 1996; source BD/Maxwell. Alternative beverages include: still waters, teas, juices/juice drinks, sports drinks, sparkling waters and natural sodas. Growth rate accelerates vs 1995 when volume was up +9.2%. Alternative beverage growth rate -- paced by +25% water volume increase -- is nearly 4 times greater than CSD's +3.6% growth (BD 2/7/97). Category totals 1.9 bil 192-oz cases. Retail sales estimated at $11.5 bil vs $10.4 bil in 1995. Perrier Group ranks #1, followed by Quaker Oats (QO), Coke and Pepsi.

1996 All-Channel Alternative Beverages
1996 1995 Share '96 '95 Volume
Companies Share Share +/- Cases Cases % Chg.
Perrier Group 24.3 23.2 +1.1 453.1 382.9 +18.3
Quaker Oats 13.9 15.3 -1.4 259.4 252.8 +2.6
Coca-Cola Co 12.4 12.0 +0.4 230.3 197.7 +16.5
PepsiCo 11.2 10.9 +0.3 208.9 180.5 +15.8
Suntory Water 10.9 9.3 +1.6 203.9 153.2 +33.1
Arizona Beverages 2.2 2.5 -0.3 41.0 41.0 flat
Dr Pepper/Seven Up 1.7 2.0 -0.3 31.8 33.4 -4.8
Seagram 1.7 1.6 +0.1 30.9 26.7 +15.5
Triarc 1.6 1.7 -0.1 29.1 27.6 +5.3
McKesson Corp 1.4 1.4 flat 25.6 23.0 +11.1
All Others 18.7 20.1 -1.4 350.2 331.4 +5.7
100.0 100.0 1864.0 1650.1 +13.0
1996 1995 Share '96 '95 Volume
Segments Share Share +/- Cases Cases % Chg.
Still Waters 39.2 35.5 +3.7 731.0 585.0 +25.0
RTD Teas 19.6 20.4 +0.8 366.2 336.0 +9.0
SS Juices/Drinks 18.2 19.8 -1.6 340.0 326.0 +4.3
Sports Drinks 14.2 14.1 +0.1 265.1 232.5 +14.0
Sparkling Waters 8.2 9.7 -1.5 152.2 159.5 -4.5
Natural Soda 0.5 0.7 -0.2 9.5 11.2 -14.8
100.0 100.0 1864.0 1650.1 +13.0

Charts. Top chart shows ranking of top-10 alternative beverage companies; includes market shares, share changes, case volume and volume changes 1996 vs 1995. Bottom chart tracks individual categories. BD/Maxwell data covers all channels including take-home, vending, fountain, etc. Cases in millions. Results. Four of 6 categories grow last year; sparkling waters, natural sodas shrivel. Still water, sports drinks exceed industry's +13% growth. Tea up +9%, gains share.

Companies. 1) Perrier Group -- with numerous regional still water brands like Arrowhead, Poland Spring and Zephyrhills -- posts significant volume and share growth. Note: data for Perrier, Suntory and McKesson tracks all packages and channels. 2) QO's volume increases slightly driven by Gatorade's +11.8% growth to 190 mil cases; Snapple down -16.2% to 69.4 mil 192-oz cases. 3) Coke's Nestea tea up +25%; Powerade up +19.6%. 4) Pepsi's Lipton Brisk up +13%, Lipton Original/Brew down -18.2%. All Sport up +17.6%; Aquafina still water, now bottled at 11 Pepsi plants, sells 11 mil cases.

Plus. 1) Suntory posts greatest share and volume gain due to 1/96 acquisition of Hinckley & Schmitt for $290 mil (BD 1/12/96). 2) Arizona's volume flat; market share down -0.3. 3) Dr Pepper/Seven Up alternative beverage brands lose overall volume and share; Crystal Light volume up, but volume down for Country Time lemonade, Motts, Canada Dry seltzer and Schweppes seltzer. 4) Seagram posts +15% volume increase; gains share. 5) Triarc grows volume; share down -0.1. 6) McKesson water volume up, share flat.


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