KMI AND SOFT DRINKS

KMI and Soft Drinks

KMI and Soft Drinks

Introduction

The soft drinks market as a whole is defined to cover five categories. The following volume market shares are attributed by the British Soft Drinks Association (BSDA):

carbonated drinks (42%)

dilutable drinks (23%)

bottled water (16%)

fruit juices (10%) — made of 100% fruit juice

juice drinks (9%) — less than 100% fruit-juice content. (Vartanian et al. 2007, 667-675)

Carbonated Soft Drinks

Carbonated soft drinks are usually sweet, containing a high ratio of sugar or artificial sweeteners, together with carbon dioxide to make them `fizzy'. Subdivisions are based mainly on:

flavours — led by cola and lemon, and including other citrus fruits, berry fruits and herbs

regular versions versus low-calorie or `diet' versions

energy or sports drinks containing concentrations of glucose or caffeine

mixers — carbonates intended for use with spirits (e.g. whisky/whiskey and ginger ale, gin and tonic water).

Concentrated Soft Drinks

Concentrated or dilutable soft drinks are usually based on fruit juice, meant for dilution in the home, and are traditionally known in the UK as squashes or cordials. They are generally targeted at children. Like carbonates, there are regular and low-calorie or reduced-sugar versions.

Some brands, that were originally sold as concentrates, are also available in RTD line extensions of the brand (e.g. Robinsons Fruit Shoot), but these are classified as fruit drinks, not concentrates.

KMI

The new marketplace features a range of both specialised and diversified companies. KMI is entirely devoted to new production, although this now takes in all types of regular products. KMI took the strategic decision in the late 2009 to expand — having failed to catch up with Coca-Cola in soft drinks — by diversifying into snack foods and restaurants. Most of the companies in the market are specialists in soft drinks (following the example set by KMI), but there are important exceptions, such as Pepsi.

Beverages are important components of diet and a route for the intake of caffeine, ethanol, and other bioactive substances. Consumption of fruit drinks and soda represents nearly 81 percent of the increase in caloric sweetener intake in the United States. The largest source of these added sugars is nondiet soft drinks, which account for 47 percent of total added sugars in the diet.

The term soft drink encompasses sodas along with other sugar-sweetened beverages such as fruit drinks, lemonade, and iced tea. The term soda encompasses sugar-sweetened carbonated beverages such as colas. Consumption of these beverages was shown to increase by 135 percent between ...