Stephanie Lahad, Paris Office, Bord Bia – Irish Food Board
The juice and soft drinks category, which represents a €3.2bn turnover in France according to Symphony IRI fell by 3.8% in 2012 due to the new soda tax introduced by the government as well as the bad weather during the summer season.
Colas and lemonades were the most affected by this drop (3% and 5% respectively in volume) whereas ice tea and energy drinks kept growing (6.4% and 5.3% respectively in volume).
Ice tea growth is due to consumer trends towards more natural products with less sugar and brands such as Nestea have worked on their recipes to decrease their sugar level by 30%. This trend also explains the success of juices containing “super fruit” like cranberries, pomegranate or acai berries, such as Tropicana Essentiels + range.
Origin is also very important to French consumers, and French brands such as Joker or Pressade Organic mention the region of origin of their fruit on their packaging. Even Tropicana launched a 100% French juice range named « Récoltes Locales » (local harvest). Regional cola brands are also growing such as Breizh Cola from Brittany.
To breathe new life into the category in 2013, drinks manufacturers are also launching a series of innovations to promote the category among French consumers. Innovations include new exotic flavours such as Tropicana and their « World Cocktail » range (mango with pineapple and persimmon fruit or banana and soursop) or even new texture, like Joker and its velvety orange juice.
Finally, small format packaging for children is becoming increasingly popular with a growth of 5.5% in volume in 2012. Pouch drinks such as CapriSun and P’tit Oasis and 200ml bottles with sports cap are leading the category. Teisseire have also launched a Fruit shoot range of cordials with bottles the shape of the fruit they represent.
All these innovations combined with a high level of TV advertisement investment and strong price promotions should enable the soft drink category to grow again in 2013…whatever the weather!