More young Australians drinking soft drinks
Amid news of Coca Cola Amatil posting its lowest profit in eight years, the latest figures from Roy Morgan Research show that consumption of Coca-Cola branded (and other) soft drinks has increased year-on-year among a key segment of the Australian population: the under-25s.
Last year, 56% of Australians aged 14-24 drank at least one soft drink in an average seven-day period, up from 53% in 2013. The clear market leader is the Coca-Cola brand including Coca-Cola as well as sub-brands Diet Coke, Vanilla Coke and Coke Zero. Thirty-eight percent of 14-24 year olds drank at least one Coca Cola-branded soft drink in an average seven days (up from 35% in 2013), with year-on-year increases for Coca-Cola, Diet Coke and Vanilla Coke.
In contrast, 25-34 year-olds showed the most marked decreases, both for soft drinks in general and for the Coke brand. In 2013, 56% consumed at least one soft drink in any given seven days, but last year this figure fell to 53%. The proportion who consumed Coca-Cola soft drinks in an average seven days went from 41% to 37%.
Proportion of each age group who consume soft drink: 2013 vs 2014
Source: Roy Morgan Single Source (Australia), January 2013 – December 2013 (n=18,576) and January 2014-December 2014 (n=15,944).
The proportion of Australians aged 35-49 drinking soft drinks in an average week fell fractionally from 55% to 54% (although there was a more noticeable decline in their Coca-Cola drinking: from 37% to 34%).
The 50+ demographic, traditionally the least zealous soft drink consumers, remained stable at 40%. The proportion drinking the Coca-Cola brand barely changed either (20% to 19% year on year).
Angela Smith, Group Account Director, Roy Morgan Research, says:
“Back in 2007, 59% of Australians drank soft drinks in an average seven days. In the ensuing years, this figure decreased dramatically, and now sits at 48%. Coca-Cola was one of many brands affected by this downturn. However, between 2013 and 2014, the decline has slowed, with the proportions of soft drink and Coke consumers changing very little.
“In the case of young Aussies aged under-25, soft drinks have actually experienced a surge in popularity over the last year. Not only are more under-25s consuming soft drinks, but they are the only age group whose average individual consumption has increased, from 5.7 glasses in an average seven days to 6.2 glasses.
“It is imperative for soft drink manufacturers to have a detailed understanding of their consumers in order to fully understand and profit from these rapidly changing market trends.”
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Margin of Error
The margin of error to be allowed for in any estimate depends mainly on the number of interviews on which it is based. Margin of error gives indications of the likely range within which estimates would be 95% likely to fall, expressed as the number of percentage points above or below the actual estimate. Allowance for design effects (such as stratification and weighting) should be made as appropriate.
| Sample Size | Percentage Estimate |
| 40% – 60% | 25% or 75% | 10% or 90% | 5% or 95% | |
| 1,000 | ±3.0 | ±2.7 | ±1.9 | ±1.3 |
| 5,000 | ±1.4 | ±1.2 | ±0.8 | ±0.6 |
| 7,500 | ±1.1 | ±1.0 | ±0.7 | ±0.5 |
| 10,000 | ±1.0 | ±0.9 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 |
| 20,000 | ±0.7 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 |
| 50,000 | ±0.4 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 | ±0.2 |
