NPD Group research finds U.S. adults more frequently opt for water than such beverages as coffee and soda. While coffee may help American consumers start the day, beginning with the snack occasion occurring between breakfast and lunch, water was the choice in 46% of all drinking occasions the rest of the day. NPD research also found younger consumers are less likely to drink water; tap/filtered water accounted for 26% of all drinking occasions across all meals, but it accounted for only 21% of “drinkings” among children. Teenagers, on the other hand, are more likely to choose regular (non-diet) carbonated soft drinks with their meals; soft drinks hold a 14% share of teen meal beverages, but only 8% for all consumers.
Those soft-drink consumers may well soon have a new option from beverage giant Coca-Cola, as the company’s chairman Muhtar Kent has hinted Coke Life could be coming to U.S. store shelves. The low-calorie cola drink sweetened with stevia and sugar promises roughly a third of the calories of regular Coke and has reportedly been a big hit in Argentina, where the beverage launched in early 2013. The move to incorporate stevia is a first for the company in its flagship cola and may prove essential to bottlers looking to stem the continuing slowdown in soda sales.