U.S. Consumption of Soft Drinks Plummets

Carbonated soda volume, excluding energy drinks, dropped 1.5% in 2011.

March 22, 2012

NEW YORK - U.S. consumption of carbonated soda beverages decreased faster in 2011, with total sales volume dropped around 1% to reach around the same level as 1996, according to Beverage Digest, Reuters reports. In 2010, sales volume declined 0.5%.

Soft drink volume dropped 1.5% in 2011, not including energy drinks. "Carbonated soft drinks, while still the biggest category, are playing a declining role in Americans' beverage consumption," said Beverage Digest.

U.S. sales of carbonated beverages increased around 3% each year during the 1990s, but sales started slowing down in 1999 and slipped into a decline in 2005 that continues into today. On average, Americans downed 714 eight-ounce servings of carbonated soda in 2011, a decrease from 728 in 2010. That??s the lowest level of consumption a quarter century.

Beverage Digest points to price increases as part of the reason for the volume decline. Also contributing to the lower soda consumption is interest in non-carbonated beverages. Bottled beverage sales, which include juice drinks, teas, sports drinks and bottled waters, jumped 0.8% in 2011.

The top four soft drinks ?" Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Pepsi-Cola and Mt. Dew ?" all registered a drop in sales in 2011. Coke??s market share remained stable, but the other three lost share.

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