Diet coke for the first time has superseded Pepsi as the second most popular carbonated soft drink behind Coca-Cola based on data from Beverage Digest.
According to a report from Beverage Digest released Thursday March 17, which shows America’s favorite soft drink ranking based on sales, Coco-Cola sold almost 927 million cases of the diet drink in 2010. PepsiCo sold around 892 million cases of Pepsi.
The overall trend for soft drinks in the United States has been on the slide for six years in a row, indicating that customers are holding back on spending and likely to prefer more health conscious options. Diet Coke’s popularity also highlights the long-term preference for diet sodas. A decade ago there were only two top 10 sugar-free beverages. The latest figures show that there are four diet drinks from Coke, Pepsi, Mountain Dew, and Dr Pepper in the top 10.
The change in rank is a dramatic change in the industry. John Sicher, the editor and publisher of Beverage Digest, claims that Pepsi has held the second position “for decades.”
Nevertheless, traditional Coke reigns at the No. 1 position with 1.6 billion cases sold.
“We’re not happy. We would obviously like to be No. 1,” said Massimo d’Amore, chief executive of PepsiCo Beverages Americas. “We want to reclaim the place that belongs to this company.
From a strategic point of view, Coco-Cola Co. has heavily invested in promoting the product, whereas PepsiCo Inc may have fallen behind in this area over the last few years. Pepsi has opted to channel its funding towards the Pepsi Refresh Project which is an online donation program dedicated to building brand awareness. The key issue for Pepsi is that this focus may not have generated drink sales.
Sicher said that “in the cola wars, it didn’t give the Pepsi brand the justice it deserves.”
According to a report from Beverage Digest released Thursday March 17, which shows America’s favorite soft drink ranking based on sales, Coco-Cola sold almost 927 million cases of the diet drink in 2010. PepsiCo sold around 892 million cases of Pepsi.
The overall trend for soft drinks in the United States has been on the slide for six years in a row, indicating that customers are holding back on spending and likely to prefer more health conscious options. Diet Coke’s popularity also highlights the long-term preference for diet sodas. A decade ago there were only two top 10 sugar-free beverages. The latest figures show that there are four diet drinks from Coke, Pepsi, Mountain Dew, and Dr Pepper in the top 10.
The change in rank is a dramatic change in the industry. John Sicher, the editor and publisher of Beverage Digest, claims that Pepsi has held the second position “for decades.”
Nevertheless, traditional Coke reigns at the No. 1 position with 1.6 billion cases sold.
“We’re not happy. We would obviously like to be No. 1,” said Massimo d’Amore, chief executive of PepsiCo Beverages Americas. “We want to reclaim the place that belongs to this company.
From a strategic point of view, Coco-Cola Co. has heavily invested in promoting the product, whereas PepsiCo Inc may have fallen behind in this area over the last few years. Pepsi has opted to channel its funding towards the Pepsi Refresh Project which is an online donation program dedicated to building brand awareness. The key issue for Pepsi is that this focus may not have generated drink sales.
Sicher said that “in the cola wars, it didn’t give the Pepsi brand the justice it deserves.”
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