Cola Share Hits New Low In 1997

From Beverage Digest 3/20/98

Cola Shares 1977-1997
Year	Total	+/-	Regular	+/-	Diet	+/-
1977	61.0		51.7		9.3
1978	61.4	+0.4	51.9	+0.2	9.5	+0.2
1979	61.2	-0.2	51.6	-0.3	9.6	+0.1
1980	61.4	+0.2	51.5	-0.1	9.9	+0.3
1981	62.3	+0.9	51.3	-0.2	11.0	+1.1
1982	62.1	-0.2	50.2	-1.1	11.9	+0.9
1983	63.1	+1.0	48.7	-1.5	14.4	+2.5
1984	63.6	+0.5	47.7	-1.0	15.9	+1.5
1985	63.3	-0.3	46.6	-1.1	16.7	+0.8
1986	63.5	+0.2	46.2	-0.4	17.3	+0.6
1987	63.3	-0.2	45.2	-1.0	18.1	+0.8
1988	63.0	-0.3	43.9	-1.3	19.1	+1.0
1989	61.3	-1.7	41.0	-2.9	20.3	+1.2
1990	61.8	+0.5	40.5	-0.5	21.3	+1.0
1991	60.4	-1.4	39.5	-1.0	20.9	-0.4
1992	59.0	-1.4	38.9	-0.6	20.1	-0.8
1993	58.6	-0.4	39.0	+0.1	19.6	-0.5
1994	58.3	-0.3	39.2	+0.2	19.1	-0.5
1995	58.1	-0.2	39.1	-0.1	19.0	-0.1
1996	58.2	+0.1	39.5	+0.4	18.7	-0.3
1997	57.1	-1.1	39.1	-0.4	18.0	-0.7

Cola Share Hits New Low In 1997. Gains of Previous Year Erased.

Cola segment's share of total CSD market drops -1.1 points in 1997. Colas' decline in Nielsen Foodstore Index is steepest since 1992, when segment lost -1.4 share points. Colas hit lowest point since 1977 when tracking began (table). Colas lose share in six of last seven years; up +0.1 in 1996.

Regular/diet. In 1997, both regular and diet colas lose market share. Regular colas hold 39.1 market share of total CSD, down -0.4 points. Diet colas hold 18 share, down -0.7. Diets lose share in every year since 1991. Diet share now at lowest point since 1986. Major diet colas switch to 100% aspartame formulas in 1984, post steady share growth through 1990. Declines since 1991 mirror overall diet CSD share losses (BD 2/20/98).

All-channel. Cola share also drops in BD/Maxwell all-channel data: 62.5 in 1997, down -1.7 points. In BD/Maxwell ranking of top-10 brands, only non-colas -- Mt Dew, Sprite and Dr Pepper -- gain share (BD 2/12/98). Nielsen data. Nielsen Foodstore Index includes $2+ mil supermarkets, small groceries and food C-stores. Restatement of 1996 data (BD 3/7/97) reduces cola segment's overall 1996 gain by 0.1 points, from +0.2 to +0.1; regular colas' gain restated to +0.4 from +0.5.

Return to 3/20/98 Headlines.

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