Soft Drinks Made Easy

Why are Soft Drinks important?

Soft Drinks are important across all occasions. From natural fruit juices to get you going in the morning, thirst-quenching carbonates or fruit drinks to keep you hydrated throughout the day, to sparkling options designed to enhance meals or mixers and energy drinks to keep you going on those late nights.

• Soft Drinks are the number one alternative to alcohol.**
• Soft Drinks are drunk by all ages and across all day-parts.
• Soft Drinks are the number 1 drink consumed with food.* 

Over 1 in 5 people now claim to be teetotal and 1 in 2 people are moderating their alcohol intake.

That's why Soft Drinks have been growing in both volume and cash sales, and this trend set to continue. 

That's handy, because from cost effective draught solutions to premium and speciality packaged lines, Soft Drinks can deliver a great margin opportunity!

* MCA Easting Out Panel Full Year to December 2017

**The Grocer Dec 18

Key things to consider to create the perfect Soft Drinks range

Customer is King

Think about your core and occasional customers. Consider who your Soft drinks need to appeal to i.e. Younger/ Older; Male/ Female; Kids/ Teens.

Low and No

Sugar remains the No.1 concern for consumers purchasing Soft Drinks! Ensure your range meets this growing demand by offering a good selection of lower/no sugar Softs.

Tantalising Treats

With 35% of Guests on a treat mission in the licensed channel and 65% stating they would pay more for a Premium Soft drink! Are you catering for that special occasion? 

Seasonal Spend

Seasons and events like Summer, Easter, Christmas, or even the World Cup create increased socialising and anywhere from 20-80% uplift on Soft drinks. Why not consider an aspirational seasonal drinks range or special serve to satisfy guests?

Healthy Heroes

With 1 in 5 adults claiming they are tee-total, and 1 in 2 actively moderating alcohol, Soft Drinks are the No.1 alternative! Consider flexing your Total Drinks range and giving additional space to Softs to tap into this growing trend.

Food for Thought

Although food may only be a small part of your offering, it's worth noting that 1 in 2 eating out occasions feature a Soft Drink! So if you sell food consider drinks that pair well with your menu.

Soft Drinks can be divided into 6 categories:

The importance of each of these are dependent on the style of outlet, your customer base and affluence. 

Core Essentials

Your must have’s in every range; high volume and recognisable brands your guests would expect to see

Perfect Food Partners

Drinks that pair well with food to enhance the occasion

Mixing Must Haves

A must stock to compliment your Spirits range and entice with a signature drink

Premium & Crafted

A selective range to enable guests to trade up

Kids and Teens

An important range catering for Kids of all ages, on all occasions, and permissible by parents

Feel Good

For guests seeking healthier alternatives

Core Essentials Range

These are the products that your guests expect to see, as you would expect they tend to be the biggest sellers in your range. We recommend stocking at least 14 core essential lines.

Draught 

• 2 x Cola
• 1 x Lemonade
• Britvic range suggestions 
• Pepsi Max
• Pepsi Regular
• R.White's Lemonade

Fruit Juice Drinks - Packaged 

• 3 x Fruit Based Drinks
•  Britvic range suggestions
• J2O Orange & Passionfruit
• J2O Apple & Raspberry
• J2O Apple & Mango

Bottled Water & Cordials

• 2 x Still and Sparkling Water
• 3 x Flavoured Cordials 
• Britvic range suggestions
• Britvic Cordials Lime,
• Britvic Cordials Orange
• Britvic Cordials Blackcurrant

Other lines to consider

• Fruit Flavoured Carbonated drinks
• Britvic range suggestions 
• 7up Free 330ml
• Diet Pepsi 330ml

Tip: Draught often is the main seller for Softs, with Cola and Lemonade key. Why not tempt guests to trade up to more premium options. Don't forget your seasonal and special serves.  

Mixing must haves

Mixing offers a great opportunity to elevate your serve. From delivering the perfect G&T to constructing more exotic cocktails and mocktails, a good range of mixers, juices and syrups are the core ingredients to complement you Spirits selection. 

For a Premium Pub we would recommend you stock 11-13 mixers & juice products.

Mixers (200ml)

• 2 x  Tonics (Regular and Low Cal)
• 4 x Soda Water, Ginger Ale and Bitter Lemon
• 1 x Energy Mixer 
  • Britvic range suggestions
    • Britvic Tonic
    • Britvic low cal Tonic
    • Britvic Bitter Lemon
    • Britvic Ginger Beer 
    • Britvic Ginger Ale
    • Britvic Soda Water

Juices (200ml)

• 4x Packaged fruit juices
  • Britvic range suggestions
    • Britvic Orange juice
    • Britvic Cranberry juice
    • Britvic Pineapple juice
    • Britvic Tomato juice

Syrups

• 3 x Cocktail Syrups
  • Britvic range suggestions
    • Teisseire Syrups

Tip: Don't forget, some of the core essential lines make excellent mixers as well, what would Jack Daniels be without a Cola. 

Premium & Crafted

Stocking a range of premium brands that people know and recognise is important. Not only do they offer a great margin opportunity, but they also reinforce the quality of your offering.

We recommend stocking 4-6 premium or crafted lines.

• 4 x Premium & Crafted
  • Britvic range suggestions
    • Robinsons Cordials - Lime and Mint
    • Robinsons Cordials - Rhubarb and Orange blossom
    • R.White's Raspberry Lemonade
    • R.White's Pear and Elderflower 

Tip: When trading guests up to premium products its vital to get the presentation right. Premium Cordials offer a great alternative to trade guests up from tap water and basic squash.   

Other products to consider

Kids & Teens

If your outlet attracts families we recommend a minimum of 2 products aimed a kids and teens, but add more according to the importance of families to your business.

• 2 x Flavoured fruit juice drinks
  • Britvic range suggestions
    • Fruit Shoot Orange
    • Fruit Shoot Apple & Blackcurrant
  • Other lines to consider   
    • Fruit Shoot Hydro Apple & Raspberry

Tip: Teens are as likely to choose from the core essentials range of fruit drinks, carbonates and cordials.

Feel Good

For guests seeking healthier alternatives.

• Consider brands such as:
  • Britvic 100 orange
  • Britvic 100 apple

Tip: Don't forget your Healthy hero's, over 60% of consumers are trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle.