UK soft drinks industry poll

This year’s UK Soft Drinks Industry Conference, organised by Zenith Global in conjunction with the British Soft Drinks Association, attracted a record number of delegates to focus on its theme of ‘Crafting the future.’ Among a variety of delegate polls …

• 46% expected 2019 UK soft drinks volume growth of 2-3.9%, with 31% saying more than 23% saying less.

• 66% believed plastic/sustainability/waste is the biggest issue facing the industry today, compared with 20% for sugar/obesity/health.

• 47% felt functionality/added benefit is the biggest opportunity, with 27% opting for craft/personal/premium and 20% for wellness/natural.

• On packaging sustainability, 40% selected consumer education as the first priority, followed by 24% for collection consistency and 19% for recycling capacity.

• On the Soft Drinks Industry Levy’s effect, 60% viewed it as positive, 30% negligible and 10% negative.

• For the best future impact on sugar concerns, 33% chose sweetener naturalness, 26% sweetener taste and 15% a wider sugar tax.

• The greatest adult soft drink opportunity was perceived to be alcohol free beer/wine/spirits with 39% support, followed by herbal/botanical with 29% and mixers with 17%.