The saying goes, what goes up must come down. The same can be said however for what goes down must come back up. Such is the case for non-dairy beverage sales, which continue to display rising figures, even though some brands saw sales drop.
Bottled water sales rise to the top
The $7.8 billion bottled water category, for instance, isn’t showing any signs of hitting the ground. The category increased 2%.
According to Chicago-based SymphonyIRI Group, for the quarter ended Aug. 7, 2011, private label ranked No. 1 in the convenience/PET still water segment with $1 billion in sales.
Meanwhile, vitaminwater Zero, produced by Glacéau, Whitestone, N.Y., experienced a 159.6% jump in sales, partially due to its “uncapped” campaign, which pairs vitaminwater with music, action sports and fashion.
RTD iced coffee, tea creates ‘buzz’
The ready-to-drink cappuccino/iced coffee segment displayed some up-and-down results, similar to the highs and lows felt after a good swig of caffeine. Overall though, sales increased 5.5% and units increased 8.3% for the period.
As for individual brands, sales of Illy Issimo, produced by Italy-based Ilko Coffee International Srl, jumped 485.2% for its 100% Arabica coffee selection, while Seattle’s Best, Seattle, rose 383.4% in sales for its Vanilla Latte, Iced Mocha and Iced Latte options in a can.
On the other hand, Cinnabon, Seattle, experienced an 89.1% decline in sales, while PomX iced coffee, produced by Los Angeles-based Pom Wonderful, LLC, underwent a 60.8% drop in sales.
The canned and bottled tea sector, a $2.4 billion category, showcased mixed results as well. On the upside, AriZona Arnold Palmer Half & Half, created by AriZona Beverage Co., Cincinnati, in partnership with golf professional Arnold Palmer, saw a 50.4% increase in sales. AriZona Arnold Palmer is a blend of traditional black tea and lemonade.
Other positive marks go to Lipton Brisk Tea, an iced tea soft drink that’s produced by Unilever-owned Lipton in conjunction with PepsiCo. Lipton Brisk Tea raked in a 27.1% increase in sales and comes in eight flavors. Meanwhile, Lipton Diet pulled in a 4.3% rise in sales. The traditional Lipton brand didn’t fare as well in sales, seeing a 15.5% drop in sales, whereas Lipton Pureleaf dropped 8.5%.
Juice rules
Refrigerated juices and drinks are extremely popular non-dairy beverages. Orange juice, for example, is the highest grossing sector, raking in $2.7 billion in sales thanks to Coca-Cola’s Minute Maid brand, which saw sales balloon 444%.
Juice and drink smoothies placed fourth (see table) with a 16.6% rise in sales. Odwalla Superfood, produced by Odwalla Inc., Half Moon Bay, Calif., saw a 148.9% jump in sales, while Naked Well Being, a line of better-for-you smoothies produced by Naked Juice Co., Monrovia, Calif., underwent a 114.4% climb in sales.
Despite a pattern of sales increases, the blended fruit division, which snagged the No. 5 slot, experienced a 9.4% dive in sales. Odwalla kicked off the downward spiral with a 32.5% plummet in sales. Meanwhile, Fruit2Day (produced by WhiteWave, LLC, Broomfield, Colo.), Minute Maid and Dole (both from Dole Food Co., Thousand Oaks, Calif.,) saw sales decline 15.9%, 14.1% and 12.6%, respectively.
On the other hand, sales for Welch’s Healthy Start, a no-sugar-added, 100% juice line by Welch’s, Concord, Mass., soared 1,630.9%.
Dairy processors can study the data to help them decide what beverages they should be bottling.
