1. How big is the category in convenience?
2. Don’t forget the mixers
3. What’s new this Christmas?
4. How can retailers maximise sales?
5. Opportunity for premium growth
6. Catering for Christmas morning
1. How big is the category in convenience?
The festive season is right around the corner and retailers have the opportunity to grow basket spend, particularly in the soft drinks category as consumers look to splash out.
Kate Abbotson, senior external communications manager at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, explains how important Christmas is to convenience. “Christmas represents one of the biggest opportunities in the retail calendar and provides an opportunity to serve several shopper missions at once, from planned family gatherings and parties to last-minute top-up shops.
“When picking out the perfect Christmas range, soft drinks form an integral part. The category is now worth £15.33bn and has added £1.04bn in incremental retail sales value over the last year. Big, trusted brands remain central to that growth. Retailers should promote a solid core range, with seasonal innovations and promotions, to make the most out of the festive sales.”
A Red Bull spokesperson highlights the category growth, particularly within energy. “In 2025, Total FMCG sales grew by +13% in the eight weeks of Christmas vs the prior period, with soft drinks a top five category where shoppers are prepared to trade up rather than cut back. Retail visits rise significantly at Christmas: shoppers made an average of 1.2bn soft drinks trips across November and December last year, while Energy trips grew by 7m (+5%) in December. This means shoppers buy Energy Drinks more often at Christmas, driving a +15% increase in volume per buyer vs an average month.”
2. Don’t forget the mixers
With it being party season, shoppers will be looking to stock up on mixers to ensure their guests are enjoying themselves. Abbotson calls them a “must stock”.
“Schweppes continues to demonstrate the strength of a trusted core range alongside premium and flavour-led innovation. The £78.6m brand is GB’s number one branded mixer by volume sales, with one in three mixer shoppers buying Schweppes in the last year. It also leads branded mixers on penetration and repeat purchase.
“We’re continuing to invest around key social occasions. With 59% of consumers saying they plan to make more cocktails at home, Schweppes is partnering with Netflix’s The Gentlemen, with promotional packs and activity spanning in-store, social, influencer and out-of-home, helping retailers tap into at-home hosting and the important festive mixers opportunity.”
3. What’s new this Christmas?
Retailers may have their core lines sorted but what seasonal NPD is available to them?
Coca-Cola has launched Coca-Cola Holiday Creamy, combing the Coca-Cola taste with a smooth, creamy vanilla twist. Available in both Original Taste and Zero Sugar, Coca-Cola Holiday Creamy Vanilla comes dressed for the occasion in festive packaging, which features vanilla inspired colours and a soft serve swirl icon.
Coca-Cola Original Taste Holiday Creamy Vanilla is available in 330ml cans, 8 x 330ml can multipacks, 500ml PET bottles and 1.75L PET bottles. Coca-Cola Zero Sugar Holiday Creamy Vanilla is available in 330ml cans, 8 x 330ml can multipacks, 500ml PET bottles and 2L PET bottles.
Price-marked 500ml and 1.75L bottles will also be available for convenience and wholesale customers.
Pepsi is bringing back Pepsi Zero Sugar Gingerbread flavour into the convenience and wholesale channels. Back by popular demand following last year’s limited-edition run, the festive favourite is helping retailers tap into the key Christmas period by bringing together two much loved flavours, Pepsi and Gingerbread, in a limited-edition flavour.
Red Bull is introducing a frosty new addition to its flavoured Energy line-up with the launch of Red Bull Glacier Edition.
Featuring the flavour of Frosted Raspberry, the new variant will be available exclusively to Booker retailers and in Tesco stores, ahead of a wider roll-out planned for early next year. The launch builds on this demand and follows the latest Red Bull Winter Edition Pistachio and Berries, introduced in September.
A full-sugar variant, the Red Bull Glacier Edition is available in a range of plain and price-marked packs, with the 250ml can providing an accessible entry format and the 473ml can offering loyal shoppers a trade-up option.
4. How can retailers maximise sales?
Ben Parker, VP Sales – Off Trade at Carlsberg Britvic offers up advice to retailers looking to make the most of the festive season.
“Use secondary displays and Point Of Sale (POS) to signpost the Christmas range and give high-demand products greater visibility. Placing drinks in prominent areas can help retailers capture planned purchases, as well as last-minute top-ups. Cola, flavoured carbonates and adult soft drinks were the three top-performing soft drinks categories last Christmas, making them important products to consider when allocating seasonal space.
“Group complementary products around recognisable festive needs, such as ‘Christmas Entertaining’ or ‘Twixmas Essentials’. Merchandising soft drinks alongside party snacks, or alongside crisps and nuts, can make the fixture easier to shop for while encouraging cross-category purchases.
“Promotions are an important tool during the festive period to help drive sales. Retailers can use offers alongside cross-category displays to give shoppers a clear reason to purchase and encourage larger baskets.
“Balance trusted favourites with seasonal innovation, while ensuring shoppers have access to formats suited to different needs. Multipacks and larger take-home formats can support parties and gatherings, while smaller packs cater to top-up shops and more informal occasions.”
5. Opportunity for premium growth
Christmas is often a time when shoppers will splash out, as Parker explains. “While consumers continue to keep a close eye on spending, Christmas remains a time when many are willing to treat themselves and others. Shoppers continue to seek out small luxuries, whether that is a premium soft drink to enjoy whilst hosting or a festive favourite to share with friends. This creates an opportunity for retailers to balance value with affordable indulgence by offering products that feel elevated without breaking the bank.”
Meanwhile, Tracy Ford, co-founder and COO of Oovi, explains how the expectations are higher these days. “Choice for everyone at the table. Most festive gatherings now mix drinkers, drivers, people cutting back and people who’ve given up altogether, and the host wants to look after all of them. A few years ago the soft drinks on the table were cola for the kids and a bottle of lemonade for the driver. Now adults expect something that feels as considered as the wine.”
She adds that this can extend into the New Year. “The growing post-Christmas ‘New Me’ and Dry January trends will bring the usual spike in sales of premium soft drinks, but we expect healthier choices to become a year-round habit rather than a New Year detox. The functional drinks space is getting crowded, so we think the next phase will reward simplicity and honesty: fewer wellness buzzwords, clearer ingredients, and products that genuinely taste good enough to repeat-buy.
“That’s a real opportunity for convenience. When someone pops in for a top-up, a chilled fridge with a few interesting, better-for-you options can turn a single bottle into a basket. The retailers who do well will treat soft drinks as part of the celebration, not the back-up plan.”
6. Catering for Christmas morning
Christmas isn’t just about partying and socialising, there’s also the morning after which can provide an additional opportunity for retailers.
Carlsberg Britvic’s Parker urges retailers to “consider morning occasions as part of the festive shop by merchandising coffee, juice and smoothie formats alongside complementary breakfast and bakery products”.
“While Christmas might be all about indulgence, shoppers still need their morning caffeine fix - brands such as Jimmy’s Iced Coffee can help retailers broaden their festive drinks offer beyond traditional soft drinks,” he explains. “For those mornings when a hot coffee just won’t cut it, a seriously refreshing iced coffee or something a little more treat-worthy from their limited-edition range is always a good shout.”
Liz Ashdown, marketing director at Tropicana Brands Group, highlights how strong an opportunity juice can be and how the brand is making the most of it this year.
“During the past four years, volume peaks for juice began in early November, with orange holding the strongest share through the festive period (Circana; Total Grocery Outlets UK; Volume Share %; 4we data to 28.12.25). Retailers should therefore be thinking about Christmas execution from the beginning of November, rather than waiting until December.”
Tropicana has launched a festive range, spanning 16 SKUs, including its core Original and Smooth Orange, Extra Pulpy Orange, Orange & Mango and Tropical Fruit, in a range of pack sizes for different consumption occasions. Brand new for this Christmas are 1.8L festive packs of Smooth Orange and Apple, designed with larger gatherings and shared occasions in mind.
No comments yet