Asia to drive beverage consumption over 5 years

Asia will claim two-thirds of the world’s incremental beverage consumption by 2021, marking a volume shift from developed to emerging markets, according to Canadean.

Asia’s importance to the global beverage industry will soar over the next five years

In Canadean’s latest Global Beverage Forecasts report, the market research organisation estimates that China alone will be responsible for one-third of the additional volume, despite the country’s ongoing austerity measures.

Latin America is expected to achieve the second highest incremental volume growth behind Asia, with Brazil acting as the key contributor to the increase.

Incremental volume increase in the emerging Middle East and North Africa (MENA) markets is anticipated to be three times that of North America due to population growth and demand for soft drinks.

In the top 10 highest volume markets for beverage consumption, Canadean anticipates that only three developed markets – the US, Japan and German – will feature. In 2000, the US and West Europe together accounted for nearly one-third of global commercial beverage consumption, but by 2021 their combined share is forecast to shrink to 18%.

With the exceptions of the US, Saudi Arabia and Mexico, all other markets in the top 10 incremental volume providers by 2021 are expected to be Asian, with China and India leading the group.

However, Canadean notes that as the global beverage industry starts to witness a volume shift from developed to emerging markets, drinks groups will face numerous geopolitical and economic challenges.

“While many major producers are already focusing on harnessing the volume potential in emerging markets, as developed markets slow, expansion is not without its challenges,” said Antonella Reda, product pevelopment manager at Canadean.

“Producers will need to continue to invest in infrastructure and distribution efficiencies in order to retain profitability, particularly in poorer and slowing economies, and markets beset by political upheaval and/or legislative challenges.

“Continued investment in development of innovative drinks and value-added propositions that respond to changing consumer lifestyles and demographic changes at both a global and local level, remain vital to drive both volume and value growth.”

Earlier this month, Euromonitor reported that global alcoholic drinks consumption had declined for the first time in a decade, translating to a loss of 1.7 billion litres since 2014.