Soft Drinks Made Easy

Why are Soft Drinks important?

Soft Drinks are important across all occasions. From natural fruit juices at breakfast and sparkling options with meals, to mixers, carbonates and energy drinks for those late nights out. 

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

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? 

Food for Thought

1 in 2 eating out occasions feature a Soft Drink! Consider drinks that pair well with your food range. Adding a food pairing descriptor to your menu can enhance the Guest experience.

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.

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

Perfect Food Partners

As 'to go with my food', is a top driver of soft drink choice, providing a great range of softs to complement your food offer is a must.

• Britvic range suggestions
  • J20 Spritz Pear & Raspberry.
  • J20 Spritz Apple & Watermelon.
  • J20 Spritz Peach & Apricot.
  • J20 Orange & Passion Fruit.
  • J20 Apple & Mango.
  • J20 Apple & Raspberry.
  • 7UP
  • Pepsi NRB
  • Pepsi Max NRB
  • Aqua Libra Cucumber Mint & Lime
  • Aqua Libra Raspberry & Apple
  • R.White's Raspberry Lemonade
  • R.White's Pear & Elderflower
  • Robinsons Cordials range

Tip: It's important to choose brands with ingredients and flavours that pair well with your menu. See our food pairing guide for more information.

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 11 core essential lines.

Draught 

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

Fruit Juice Drinks - Packaged 

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

Bottled Water & Cordials

• 2 x Premium Still and Sparkling Water 
• 1 x Flavoured Cordials 
  • Britvic range suggestions
    • Britvic Cordials Lime

Other lines to consider

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

Mixing must haves

Mixing offers a great opportunity to showcase the art of the bar tender. From delivering the perfect pre-dinner G&T to constructing exciting cocktails and mocktails, an interesting range of premium mixers, juices and syrups are the start point to delivering sensational drinks experiences.  And don’t forget premium Cordials and Syrups are great flavour enhancers for your seasonal and signature serves.

For a Prestige Food Pub we would recommend you stock 14-18 mixers, juices and syrups.

Mixers (200ml)

• 5 x Premium & Flavoured Tonics
• 4 x Soda Water, Ginger Ale and Bitter Lemon
• 1 x Energy Mixer  
  • Britvic range suggestions
    • LEC Classic London Tonic
    • LEC Grapefruit & Rosemary Tonic
    • LEC Bitter Orange & Elderflower Tonic
    • LEC Pomelo & Pink Pepper Tonic
    • Britvic Low Cal Tonic
    • LEC Ginger Beer
    • LEC Ginger Ale
    • LEC Soda Water
    • Britvic Bitter Lemon

Juices (200ml)

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

Syrups

• 6 x Cocktail Syrups  
  • Britvic range suggestions
    • Teisseire Syrups
    • Flavour according to your recipe requirements

Tip: Tonic is the lead mixer - make sure you have a Premium offering to match the quality of the outlet, and a range of flavours for excitement

Premium & Crafted

Stocking a range of interesting 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 a prestige outlet stocks between 7-10 premium and crafted lines.

Premium & Crafted

• 4 x Crafted Sodas
• 3 x Premium Cordials 
  • Britvic range suggestions
    • LEC White Peach & Jasmine Soda
    • LEC Elderberry & Hibiscus Soda
    • LEC Rhubard & Cardoman Soda
    • Thomas & Evans No 1.
    • Robinsons Cordials - Lime and Mint
    • Robinsons Cordials - Rhubarb and Orange blossom

Tip: Over 8 in 10 of your customers would be inspired to order and pay more if they saw a drink served well & made in an interesting way.

Kids and Teens

Don't forget the kids. 37% of visits in Food led pubs are with Kids that span different age group. Ensure you stock a wide range to cater for different ages and occasions.

We recommend a minimum of 4 products aimed at kids and teens.

Flavoured Fruit Juice Drinks

• 2 x Still Flavoured Fruit Juice Drinks
• 1 x Sparking Flavoured Fruit Juice Drinks 
  • Britvic range suggestions
    • Fruit Shoot Hydro Sparkling Strawberry & Raspberry or
    • Fruit Shoot Hydro Sparkling Orange & Peach
    • Fruit Shoot Hydro Apple & Raspberry
    • Fruit Shoot Apple & Blackcurrant
    • Fruit Shoot Orange
    • Fruit Shoot Juiced Apple or Orange

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

Feel Good

As the feel good vibe continues to grow in strength, we recommend a Premium Food led outlet should stock up-to 6 feel good lines.  

Unsweetened Flavoured Waters

• 2 x Unsweetened flavoured waters
  • Britvic range suggestions
    • Aqua Libra Cucumber Mint & Lime
    • Aqua Libra Raspberry & Apple

Pure Fruit Juice

• 2 x Pure fruit juices
  • Britvic range suggestions
    • Britvic 100 Orange
    • Britvic 100 Apple

Light Sparkling Fruit drinks

• 2 x Sparkling fruit drinks (less than 100 cals)
  • Britvic range suggestions
    • J20 Spritz Pear & Raspberry
    • J20 Spritz Apple & Watermelon

Tip: With 7 in 10 people looking for natural drinks, unsweetened flavour waters are a great way to trade up guests up from tap water.