While sports drinks have registered double digit increases, a new report suggests a less robust future. Meanwhile, sales of nutrition bars have also seen a slight downturn, but should still post positive growth during the next five years.
ROCKVILLE, Md. – Sports drinks posted a cumulative 25% growth over the past five years, mostly attributable to double-digit bumps in 2010 (10.6%) and 2011 (12.5%), according to Packaged Facts, Marketing Daily reports. A better economy and PepsiCo’s recent push of Gatorade drove the numbers up.
In 2012, sports beverages registered a 6.5% sales increase to reach $6.94 billion. Packaged Facts predicts that the category will continue to grow, albeit at a much slower rate around 6% over the next five years to top a projected $9 billion.
For nutrition bars, the future looks a bit rosier. Nutrition bar sales jumped 14.2% in 2012 to reach $2.3 billion. Packaged Facts forecasts that nutrition bars will advance at a similar pace in 2013, and continue with low double-digit to high single-digit increases during the next five years to reach close to $4 billion by 2017.
Of concern for the future is that the number of males under the age of 25 will drop over the next 10 years — a key market for sports drinks. The highest volume of sports drinks consumers are male with 36% Millennials and 25% baby boomers. In the nutrition bar category, females are the biggest consumers, with 34% baby boomers and 23% Millennials.