Soft drink sales continue to outperform alcohol

Soft drinks sales continued to outperform beers and sprites within pubs and bars last year, according to the 2008 Britvic Soft Drinks Report.

Soft drink sales amongst the licensed trade grew 1.3% to £2.4b last year and are expected to increase again this year as more pubs boost their food offering.

Andrew Richards, customer management director at Britvic said: "With the smoking ban now in place and more licensed premises offering food service as a result, we expect to see sales of soft drinks continue to grow as they are a popular meal accompaniment.

Additionally soft drinks are set to benefit as pubs become more family-friendly with the smoke-free environment."

Overall, soft drinks within workplace catering, fast food and hotels saw the strongest growth year-on-year with sales up 22% to £65m thanks to a strong fruit juice performance.

Energy drinks, bottled still and sparkling water and cola also showed considerable growth.

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By Diane Lane

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