Beverage Market Outlook 2021: Retail Beverage Trends & Consumption Preferences
Wellness, indulgence, innovation, sustainability, & COVID impacts are among the factors propelling retail beverage sales forward
Sales of the major beverage categories are forecast to increase 2.2% per year from 2020 to 2025 but certainly not at a steady rate over that period, according to the update of Packaged Facts' benchmark coverage of retail beverage sales in Beverage Market Outlook 2021: Retail Beverage Trends & Consumption Preferences. Sales spiked in 2020 due to the impact of the coronavirus as consumers ate and drank virtually everything at home.
Beverage retail sales didn't experience as big of an increase in 2020 as retail sales of food items since a high percentage of packaged beverage consumption occurs when people are out of home (e.g., at school, work, events, gyms, exercising, travelling). Additionally, a relatively high percentage of beverage sales (especially water, soda, energy drinks, and ready-to-drink juices and teas) occur in convenience stores, which lost a lot of consumer traffic in 2020 due to reduced activity in travel, commuting, etc.