Carbonated soft drinks are beverages that contain carbonated water and some mixture of sweetener, and flavoring. Often times, such beverages also contain other ingredients like caffeine and coloring. The soft in soft drinks is to distinguish the beverages as non-alcoholic, in contrast to alcoholic drinks, which are sometimes called hard drinks. Carbonated soft drinks have been around in one form or another since the 17th century when they were originally created in an attempt to mimic naturally occurring spring water. It wasn't until the 18th century that the beverage became widely popular.
Market landscape
The total
value of the carbonated soft drinks market in the United Kingdom amounted to almost 9.2 billion British pounds in 2023. Like many beverage categories, carbonated soft drinks were greatly affected by the restrictions put in place on on-trade establishments due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, but since then, the market value has grown significantly again. Sales of Coca-Cola in 2024, the top-selling brand in
convenience stores, topped 790 million pounds.
Consumption
Total
consumption of carbonated soft drinks in the United Kingdom shrank to 5.4 billion liters in 2021, but grew in the following years again and amounted to 5.9 billion liters as of 2023.
Per capita consumption increased as well, up from roughly 75 liters in 2023 to almost 180 liters in 2024. The upward trend is expected to continue in the future.
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