The ready-to-drink, non-carbonated beverage market is estimated at $22 billion in 2003 and has experienced 50% indexed growth between 1998 and 2003. In 2002 alone the market grew by 7.4%, nearly double the growth of carbonated soft drinks. Innovation and the launch of new products marked the years 2002 and 2003, which should sustain future performance. For example, line extensions of premium brands such as Gatorade, Minute Maid, and Tropicana were launched or were in the process of doing so early in 2004. Some of the innovation is targeted at maintaining market share, but a significant portion is still dedicated to reaching new segments of consumers—typically a sign of an expanding market.

The ready-to-drink, non-carbonated beverage market is estimated at $22 billion in 2003 and has experienced 50% indexed growth between 1998 and 2003. In 2002 alone the market grew by 7.4%, nearly double the growth of carbonated soft drinks. Innovation and the launch of new products marked the years 2002 and 2003, which should sustain future performance. For example, line extensions of premium brands such as Gatorade, Minute Maid, and Tropicana were launched or were in the process of doing so early in 2004. Some of the innovation is targeted at maintaining market share, but a significant portion is still dedicated to reaching new segments of consumers—typically a sign of an expanding market.

Key issues covered in this report are innovation through brand and line extension, the rise of “total beverage companies,” and the relative growth of different segments of in the market. Original consumer research examines attitudes and behavior by age, gender, ethnicity and income, and a six-year trend analysis predicts future growth.

For the purposes of this report, the following definition of non-carbonated beverages has been used:

Ready-to-drink, non-carbonated beverages include sports drinks, energy drinks, bottled tea, bottled coffee, bottled water, and juice/juice drinks. Four market segments are used in this report to represent the NCB market: bottled water, sports/energy drinks, juice/juice drinks, and RTD tea/coffee.

Not included in this definition are fountain drinks, sports and energy drink mixes, concentrated juice/juice drinks, juice drink mixes, bagged tea, ground or whole-bean coffee or that purchased in coffee shops, and frozen drinks of any kind.

This report includes IRI InfoScan data.

A number of U.S. reports covering related sectors have been published, including:

Bottled Water, consumer intelligence—U.S. Report, December 2003

Hispanics and Beverages, consumer intelligence—U.S. Report, December 2003

Private-label Drinks, consumer intelligence—U.S. Report, October 2003

Functional Beverages, consumer intelligence—U.S. Report, September 2003

Energy Drinks, consumer intelligence—U.S. Report, July 2003

Tea, consumer intelligence—U.S. Report, June 2003

Milk and Flavored Milk, consumer intelligence—U.S. Report, April 2003

Energy Supplements, consumer intelligence—U.S. Report, March 2003

Fruit Juice and Juice Drinks, consumer intelligence—U.S. Report, February 2003

Carbonated Soft Drinks, consumer intelligence—U.S. Report, February 2003

Smoothies and Yogurt Drinks, consumer intelligence—U.S. Report, February 2003

Breakfast Drinks, consumer intelligence—U.S. Report, November 2002

RTD Non-Carbonated Beverages, consumer intelligence—U.S. Report, August 2002

Sports Drinks, consumer intelligence—U.S. Report, July 2002

The Beverage Market V2: The Market, consumer intelligence—U.S. Report, July 2002

The Beverage Market V1: The Consumer, consumer intelligence—U.S. Report, June 2002.