Many moons ago, I made a post here on MattChat regarding the steadily decreasing sales of soda / pop:
Now, there's an update.
Specifically about diet sodas.
From the Washington Post:
America's thirst for Diet Coke and its kin is running dry again—and this time it could be for good. Sales of low calorie soft drinks in the United States have tumbled by almost 20 percent over the past five years. This year, diet soda sales are on pace to drop another 5 percent. By 2019, they are projected to have fallen off by roughly a third since their peak in 2009.
And this is a worldwide thing:
The diet soda slowdown isn't merely an American thing—it's also happening worldwide. Globally, regular Coca-Cola and Pepsi are growing, albeit slowly, while their diet counterparts are shrinking pretty quickly. Sales of each were down almost 20 percent in the decade ended last year.
I guess the folks who use to drink diet sodas are turning to other alternatives.
Likely drinking a lot of those flavored waters.
Zero calories, too. With fewer "scary ingredients".
But, no caffeine (in most). And often not any cheaper. More expensive in some cases.
Will diet sodas ever fade completely out of existence? Doubtful.
Will their popularity continue to wain? Likely.
What could stop the bleeding?
I see 3 things:
- new formulations that cut out the "scary ingredients"
- taxes on the ingredients (sugar) of non-diet sodas
- sales/consumption taxes on the purchase of sugary drinks (as are being proposed in several areas)
Out for now......
Matt