The Complete Guide to Soft Drinks: Trends, Choices, and Opportunities

The Market Landscape for Soft Drinks

Soft Drinks in GB Free Trade

The soft drinks category is thriving in the Great Britain (GB) Free Trade market, valued at an impressive £2.1 billion. This sector accounts for over a quarter of the volume and nearly a fifth of the value within the out-of-home beverage market, making it indispensable for pubs, bars, and restaurants.

The market is expected to grow by 3% by 2026, translating into an additional £1 billion in value sales. This growth is equivalent to just six more drinks per year for every individual in the UK—a realistic and achievable target for the industry. With increasing consumer awareness and demand, the potential for this sector is vast.

Key Market Segments

While the soft drinks category is broad, three segments dominate cola, lemonade, and mixers, contributing 65% of the total market value. Let’s break them down:

1. Cola: A staple choice, cola remains the most significant contributor to the soft drinks sector, catering to a broad audience with regular, diet, and zero-sugar options.
2. Lemonade: Loved for its versatility, lemonade plays a dual role as a standalone drink and a mixer in alcoholic beverages.
3. Mixers: With the growing popularity of gin, rum, and other spirits, mixers are essential. They also tap into the rising demand for mocktails and alcohol-free options.
4. Other growing segments include energy drinks, now mainstream, and “adult soft drinks,” such as flavoured sparkling beverages. These products target health-conscious and premium-seeking consumers, offering a more refined experience.

Why Venues Should Invest in Soft Drinks

Consumer Trends Driving Growth

The modern consumer is more discerning than ever, and several trends are shaping the soft drinks market:

1. Alcohol Moderation: A remarkable 74% of UK adults actively moderated their alcohol intake, with 56% planning to reduce consumption further. This shift creates a golden opportunity for venues to diversify their non-alcoholic offerings.
2. Health-Conscious Choices: People increasingly favour beverages with low sugar, natural ingredients, and sustainable packaging.
3. Demand for Premium Experiences: Consumers now expect more than just a drink—they crave experiences. This expectation has driven the popularity of mocktails, unique flavours, and artisanal soft drinks.

Leveraging Digital Influence

Your online presence can make or break consumer decisions in the digital age. Here’s why digital engagement matters:

• Pre-visit Research: 61% of potential customers check a venue’s website or social media before visiting.
• Social Media Impact: Over 83% of people admit they’ve bought a drink after seeing it on social platforms.

To maximise sales, businesses should showcase their drink offerings online, use captivating imagery, and highlight unique selling points such as new arrivals or limited-time promotions.

Soft Drink Marketing: How Venues Drive Sales

Three Immediate Promotion Ideas for Soft Drinks

Soft drinks are often treated as an afterthought on the bar, but with the right promotions they can become one of the fastest-growing revenue lines in the venue, particularly as more customers actively choose to moderate or skip alcohol on a night out. A few simple, low-effort promotions can turn soft drinks from a low-margin necessity into a genuine profit centre. 

Soft drink happy hours. Running a discounted window on soft drinks, say, 2-for-1 or a reduced price between 5–7pm, brings in designated drivers, early diners, and anyone moderating their drinking, without needing to discount alcohol at all. It’s a strong way to fill quieter early-evening slots and encourages groups to arrive earlier, often ordering food alongside their drinks. 

Meal deals. Bundling a soft drink into a set-price meal deal (main plus a drink for a fixed price) increases average spend per head with almost no extra effort from the kitchen or bar. Customers perceive it as good value, while the venue benefits from higher volume on soft drinks that would otherwise be ordered separately, or not at all. 

Premium mocktails. The biggest opportunity is at the top end. A well-built, alcohol-free serve, using quality mixers, fresh garnish, and proper glassware can be priced close to a standard cocktail, giving a strong margin on ingredients that cost a fraction of spirits. Featuring two or three signature mocktails on the menu, rather than a generic “diet coke or lemonade” afterthought, turns non-drinkers into a customer group worth actively marketing to, not just accommodating. 

Together, these three approaches move soft drinks from a low-interest menu category into a deliberate, marketed part of the drinks offer, one that captures spend from a growing share of customers without requiring any investment in new equipment or stock lines. 

Point-of-Sale and Menu Placement for Higher Conversions

How a drinks menu is laid out often matters as much as what’s on it. Group soft drinks into clear categories, mixers, mocktails, low & no rather than burying them at the bottom of the alcohol list, so customers actively browsing for a non-alcoholic option can find one quickly. 

Use official brand logos for recognised soft drinks and mixers (Coca-Cola, Schweppes, Fever-Tree) rather than generic text listings. A familiar logo builds instant trust and signals quality, particularly for premium mixers where the brand itself is part of the appeal. Keep logo sizing consistent so no single supplier dominates the page, and follow each brand’s own guidelines for logo use and spacing. 

Price anchoring works well on soft drinks too: placing a premium mocktail or bottled mixer near a higher-priced item makes it look like better value by comparison, encouraging upsells. Listing prices in a straight column, rather than staggered across the page, also makes it easier for customers to scan and compare without feeling like they’re being steered toward the most expensive option. 

Small formatting choices like these, clear grouping, consistent branding, and thoughtful price placement can lift soft drink sales without changing a single recipe. 

Measuring Success: KPIs and Quick A/B Tests

You don’t need complex reporting to see whether soft drinks marketing is working, a handful of simple metrics, tracked consistently, will tell you most of what you need to know. 

Volume sold. The most basic starting point: track units sold per soft drink line, week on week, to spot which products are growing and which are stagnant. A sudden dip or spike is usually the first sign a promotion, price change, or seasonal shift is having an effect. 

Soft drink attachment rate. This measures how many food or alcohol orders also include a soft drink. For example, the percentage of meal deals sold with the drink included, or how often a table orders a mocktail alongside cocktails. A rising attachment rate is a strong signal that menu placement or staff recommendations are working. 

Average spend per head on soft drinks. Tracking this separately from total bar spend shows whether premium mocktails and higher-priced mixers are being chosen over the cheapest option on the list. 

Peak time-of-day sales. Comparing soft drink sales across happy hour windows versus the rest of the day helps confirm whether a promotion is genuinely driving incremental trade, rather than just shifting when people buy what they’d have ordered anyway. 

Reviewing these monthly is usually enough to spot trends early. 

Optimising Your Soft Drinks Range

Core Categories to Focus On

Understanding the core categories is crucial for meeting consumer expectations and boosting sales when curating a soft drinks menu. These include:

1. Cola: The enduring favourite among soft drinks, cola remains an essential item for any venue. With regular diet, and zero-sugar variants, it caters to diverse tastes. Brands like Coca-Cola Original Taste, Diet Coke, and Coca-Cola Zero Sugar dominate this segment and continue to drive consumer loyalty.
2. Mixers: Mixers play a dual role—serving as a base for alcoholic cocktails and as standalone beverages. Schweppes mixers, for example, lead this category with options like Indian Tonic Water and Ginger Ale. The growing demand for flavoured and premium mixers like elderflower and pink soda adds a layer of sophistication to menus.
3. Lemonade: A versatile option, lemonade appeals to customers seeking refreshing simplicity or a base for customised drinks. Schweppes Lemonade, available in draught and bottled formats, is a perennial bestseller.
4. Energy Drinks: Once niche, energy drinks are now mainstream, led by brands like Monster and Red Bull. They appeal to younger demographics and contribute significantly to incremental sales.

By focusing on these categories and stocking a balanced mix of draught and packaged options, venues can maximise appeal and flexibility.

Expanding Beverage Offerings

To stay competitive, venues must cater to diverse demographics and preferences. Here’s how to broaden your range:

• Target Families: Families with children represent a lucrative customer group. Kid-friendly options like Robinsons fruit drinks or juice boxes can enhance the family dining experience.
• Appeal to Young Adults: Younger patrons gravitate toward bold and innovative options. Drinks like Oasis Summer Fruits and flavoured sodas provide the fruity, refreshing profiles they seek.
• Introduce “Adult Soft Drinks”: These beverages, like Appletiser or San Pellegrino sparkling options, bridge the gap between soft drinks and premium non-alcoholic experiences. Perfect for pairing with meals or social occasions, they elevate your menu and drive higher margins.
• Mocktails: With so many consumers expressing interest in non-alcoholic cocktails, venues can capitalise on this trend. Creative mocktail recipes using mixers, tonics, and juices can differentiate your venue while catering to alcohol-free preferences.

Draught vs Packaged Drinks

Understanding the advantages of draught and packaged drinks can help optimise your offering:

1. Draught: Accounting for 59% of soft drinks volume in pubs, draught options like lemonade or cola ensure quicker service, consistent quality, and sustainability benefits. The ability to flexibly serve different portion sizes also aligns with varying consumer needs.
2. Packaged Drinks: Bottled and canned drinks remain essential for convenience and portability. They are trendy in casual and takeaway settings. Sustainable packaging options like recyclable glass and aluminium appeal to environmentally conscious consumers.

Striking the right balance between draught and packaged drinks ensures a versatile, consumer-centric offering.

Enhancing Consumer Experience

Serving the Perfect Soft Drink

Presentation is key to customer satisfaction. Research indicates that 83% of customers say having their soft drink served perfectly enhances their overall experience, and 85% claim it influences their decision to reorder.

To elevate the customer experience:

• Glassware Matters: Serve premium soft drinks in high-quality glassware for a sophisticated feel.
• Garnishes and Details: Add garnishes like lemon slices, mint, or berries to create a visual and sensory appeal.
• Proper Pour: Ensure draught beverages are poured precisely, avoiding over-foaming or underfilling.

A simple, well-executed serve can turn an essential beverage into an unforgettable part of the dining experience.

Adding Value with Mocktails

Mocktails present a golden opportunity to upsell. Here are a few easy-to-make recipes that combine versatility and profit:

1. Apple Flower Fizz
   • Ingredients: Schweppes Elderflower Tonic, cloudy apple juice, lime juice.
   • Serve with an apple slice garnish for a refreshing twist.
2. Gingerbread Fizz
   • Ingredients: Schweppes Lemonade, gingerbread syrup, lime juice.
   • Garnish with candied ginger for a festive vibe.
3. Coffee Tonic
   • Ingredients: Schweppes Indian Tonic, cold brew coffee, agave syrup.
   • A sophisticated, caffeine-infused option for non-alcohol drinkers.

Mocktails cater to alcohol-free preferences and offer higher profit margins than standard soft drinks.

Recommendations for Venue Owners

Pricing and Promotions

Setting competitive prices and offering enticing promotions are essential for maximising sales and attracting repeat customers. Here’s how venues can optimise pricing:

1. Dynamic Pricing Strategies:
   • Offer happy hour deals on popular soft drinks to boost sales during off-peak hours.
   • Use combo deals, such as a meal with a premium soft drink at a discounted rate.
2. Seasonal Promotions:
   • Highlight seasonal options, like citrus-based drinks in summer or spiced mocktails in winter.
   • Introduce limited-time offerings to create urgency and encourage trial.
3. Loyalty Rewards:
   • Implement loyalty programmes where customers can earn points for soft drink purchases.
   • Provide discounts on their favourite soft drinks after a set number of visits.

Pricing strategies should balance maintaining profitability and offering customer value, ensuring long-term loyalty.

Menu Design and Visual Impact

An optimised menu is a powerful tool for showcasing your soft drink range. Consider these strategies:

1. Use of Brand Logos:Incorporate recognisable logos for popular brands like Coca-Cola, Schweppes, and Red Bull to draw attention to premium offerings.
2. Engaging Descriptions: Craft vivid, tantalising descriptions that highlight unique flavours and ingredients. For instance, instead of listing “Elderflower Tonic,” describe it as “a light, floral blend of elderflower essence, perfect for pairing with fresh citrus.”
3. High-Quality Imagery: Use vibrant, professionally captured images of drinks served in premium glassware with garnishes. This appeals to customers visually and can increase the likelihood of ordering.
4. Digital Menus: Leverage digital platforms like QR code menus, where customers can browse an expanded selection. Studies show consumers spend 19% more on mobile menus than physical ones.

An attractive menu isn’t just a tool for selection—it’s an invitation for customers to explore and indulge in new options.

Sustainability and Future Trends

Packaging Innovations

Sustainability is no longer optional—it’s a priority for many consumers. Venues can align with this trend by adopting eco-friendly practices:

1. Shift to Cans: Aluminium cans, with their high recyclability rate, are increasingly preferred. They make up 34% of packaged soft drink sales in GB pubs and are seen as a sustainable choice.
2. Glass Bottles: Glass remains the premium option, especially for mixers and adult soft drinks. Its reusable and recyclable nature adds to its appeal.
3. Eliminating Plastic: Transition to biodegradable or plant-based packaging for takeaway options to minimise environmental impact.

By incorporating sustainable packaging, venues reduce their carbon footprint and strengthen customer trust and loyalty.

Anticipating Market Shifts

The soft drinks category is changing faster than most venues give it credit for. Demand for low and no-alcohol options has grown steadily as more customers moderate their drinking without giving up a night out, and that shift shows no sign of slowing. Health-conscious choices, natural ingredients, and reduced-sugar formulations are increasingly expected rather than seen as niche, while premium mixers and adult soft drinks continue to move away from being an afterthought on the menu.  

Venues that treat these shifts as a passing trend risk falling behind competitors who build them into pricing, menu design, and stock decisions early. Keeping half an eye on supplier launches, customer feedback, and what’s gaining traction in wider hospitality rather than waiting until a trend is fully established, gives a venue the chance to capture new spend before it becomes standard practice everywhere else.

Mid-2026 consumer habits to watch

Mid-2026 data shows two soft drinks trends accelerating faster than most venues have adjusted for. First, draught sugar-free premium sodas are moving from novelty to expectation, as customers increasingly want the same on-tap convenience and presentation as a pint, without the sugar load of a traditional post-mix cola or lemonade. Second, sophisticated, adult-oriented botanical mixers built on herbal, citrus and spice-led flavour profiles rather than simple fruit syrups are being chosen on their own merit, not just as an alcohol-free substitute.  

This reflects a wider shift: soft drinks are increasingly treated as a genuine “occasion” category, ordered by choice rather than default, with customers willing to pay premium prices for complexity and craft. For pubs, this means the old assumption that soft drinks are a low-margin afterthought no longer holds. Venues that add a genuine draught soda option and a well-curated botanical mixer range rather than relying on a single post-mix gun and a bottle of tonic are better placed to capture this spend before it becomes standard practice across every high street competitor. 

Conclusion

The soft drinks market in 2026-2027 offers a wealth of opportunities for venues to grow sales, attract diverse audiences, and build customer loyalty. You can position your venue as a leader in the hospitality industry by optimising your range, leveraging digital strategies, prioritising sustainability, and creating memorable drink experiences.

Whether it’s a perfectly poured cola, a mocktail masterpiece, or a sustainably packaged energy drink, every choice you make contributes to the success of your business. Embrace the potential of soft drinks supplier, and let your offerings become a defining feature of your venue.

FAQs

What are the fastest-growing categories in the soft drinks market?

Energy drinks and premium non-alcoholic options, including adult soft drinks and mocktails, are the fastest-growing categories in the soft drinks market. Consumer demand for “better-for-you” and low/no-alcohol alternatives has pushed venues to expand these ranges significantly in recent years. Many operators now dedicate a specific section of their drinks menu to these categories, reflecting a shift in guest expectations around choice and moderation.

How can digital marketing improve soft drink sales in venues?

Digital marketing improves soft drink sales by shaping purchasing decisions before guests even arrive at a venue. Showcasing drink ranges through social media posts, high-quality product imagery, and short video content builds anticipation and highlights premium or seasonal options. Venues that regularly update their online menus and tag drinks in location-based posts often see stronger footfall and higher average spend per visit.

Why is draught preferred over packaged drinks in some settings?

Draught is often preferred over packaged drinks because it delivers faster service, tighter portion control, and lower environmental impact. Bartenders can pour consistent measures quickly during peak trading hours, reducing queue times and improving throughput. Draught systems also cut down on single-use packaging waste, aligning with sustainability commitments many venues are now expected to demonstrate to guests and regulators alike.

What role do mocktails play in the non-alcoholic drink segment?

Mocktails play a central role in the non-alcoholic drink segment by serving guests who want flavour and presentation without alcohol. They typically carry higher profit margins than standard soft drinks, since pricing reflects the crafted, cocktail-style experience rather than a simple mixer. Adding two or three signature mocktails to a menu can meaningfully boost non-alcoholic revenue while broadening a venue’s appeal to designated drivers and health-conscious guests.

How can sustainability impact consumer loyalty?

Sustainability directly impacts consumer loyalty by building trust with environmentally conscious guests who return to venues aligned with their values. Practical steps like eco-friendly packaging, reduced single-use plastics, and clearly communicated waste-reduction efforts signal genuine commitment rather than marketing gestures. Venues that publicise these initiatives on menus or social channels often report stronger repeat visitation and more positive word-of-mouth referrals.

SOURCES

CGA, GB On Premise, Soft Drinks Sectors, Value % Share, MAT to P4 30/04/24 

One Pulse, 513 Respondents, Survey: How Soft Drinks are served in Pubs & Bars – Question: Would you say having your Soft Drink served perfectly improves the overall experience when in a Pub or Bar?, Survey completed 20th February 2024 

KAM – Competitive Socialising Report 2024 | 3 – One Pulse, 501 Respondents, Survey: The Pub & Bar experience – Question: When you visit Pubs & Bars – either for a meal or just drinks – do you expect them to provide an experience that you can’t get at home?, Survey completed 19th July 2024 

Source: 1 – CGA, GB Pubs (Food + Wet Led), Soft Drinks Draught vs. Packaged, 

One Pulse, 513 respondents, Survey: How Soft Drinks are served in Pubs & Bars – Questions: Q1 Would you say having your Soft Drink served perfectly improves the overall experience when in a Pub or Bar? Q2. Would having your Soft Drink served perfectly make you more likely to have another drink and visit the same venue again?, Survey completed 20th February 2024 

Cowry x CCEP Menu Optimisation Project 2022

CGA, GB Pubs (Food + Wet Led), Soft Drinks Draught vs. Packaged + Packaged by Type, Volume % Share, MAT to P4 30/04/24

CCEP Category Vision – GB Industry Estimates 2023