SOFT drinks sales in pubs have held up despite the challenging economy, according to Britvic.
The most recent Britvic Soft Drinks Report, published earlier this year, said that on-premise sales of soft drinks had outperformed ale, lager and stout in 2010, increasing by 0.9% in the course of the year to a total value of £2.8bn.
Cola is the top soft drink, according to Britvic.
Cola remained the top-selling soft drink, with sales of £987m, with lemonade in second place with sales of £416m. Cola increased sales by 8.5%, while lemonade grew by 5.5%. Despite the strength of these drinks the category as a whole did not perform quite as well, however.
Sales of mineral water fell 14% and juice drinks by 9%. Squash sales dipped 4% while energy drinks sales were down by 5%.
Pepsi remains the biggest-selling soft drinks brand in on-premise, said Britvic, with Coca-Cola close behind and Diet Coke in third place.
As in other categories, value for money was a factor in soft drinks sales, with sales of draught increasing by 3% and packaged sales dipping by 1.5%.
“Ultimately, consumers pay more for soft drinks in pubs than they would from their local supermarket, so the experience they receive needs to be worth the higher price,” said Murray Harris, customer management director at Britvic.
