Table of Contents
Executive Summary
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- The market
- Sports drinks market heavily impacted by COVID-19 and will recover slowly
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- Figure 1: Total China retail sales and forecast of sports drinks, 2015-25
- Figure 2: Total China retail volumes and forecast of sports drinks, 2015-25
- Energy drinks market experiences low negative growth in 2020 and due to rebound quickly
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- Figure 3: Total China retail sales and forecast of energy drinks, 2015-25
- Figure 4: Total China retail volumes and forecast of energy drinks, 2015-25
- Growth of sports and energy drinks market reaches bottleneck as habitual consumption is low
- The impact of COVID-19 on sports and energy drinks
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- Figure 5: Short, medium and long term impact of COVID-19 on sports and energy drinks, September 2020
- Short term disruption due to increased time spent at home
- Growing health awareness can motivate consumers to learn more about functions of sports and energy drinks
- Companies and brands
- Reignwood Group and Danone both lose value share but continue to dominate the market
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- Figure 6: Leading players’ value share of the energy drinks market, China, 2018-2019
- Figure 7: Leading players’ value share of the sports drinks market, China, 2018-2019
- Brands compete with sponsorships of novel shows
- Innovations around niche positioning or demographics
- The consumer
- Sports drinks are more reliant on physical exercise than energy drinks
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- Figure 8: Consumption occasion, May 2020
- Brand penetration is led by the leading player of each category
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- Figure 9: Brand penetration, May 2020
- Online channels become more prominent for sports and energy drinks
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- Figure 10: Purchase channel, May 2020
- Young consumers more aware of sugar and calories
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- Figure 11: Product information to check for when purchasing, May 2020
- Demand for immunity claims on the rise in the “next normal”
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- Figure 12: Interest in additional claims, May 2020
- Consumers require more education on long term benefits of consuming sports and energy drinks
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- Figure 13: Attitudes towards sports and energy drinks, May 2020
- What we think
Issues and Insights
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- Beverage blurring can make sports and energy drinks more competitive against adjacent categories
- The facts
- The implications
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- Figure 14: Examples of sports and energy drink beverage blurring
- Include more minus-claims with familiar flavours to jump on health trend
- The facts
- The implications
- Use online channels to educate consumers on health effects of sports and energy drinks
- The facts
- The implications
The Market – What You Need to Know
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- Growth of sports and energy drinks market slows due to weak consumption habit
- Both sports and energy drinks markets will rebound healthily after COVID-19
- Premiumisation with additional functions in adjacent categories squeeze sports and energy drink market
Market Size, Segmentation and Forecast
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- Growth of sports and energy drink market slows in 2019
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- Figure 15: Value segmentation of the sports and energy drinks market, China, 2015-2020
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- Figure 16: Volume segmentation of sports and energy drinks market, China, 2015-2020
- Sports and energy drink market impacted by COVID-19 due to activity-associated consumption occasions
- Sports drinks to maintain slow growth
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- Figure 17: Total China retail sales and forecast of sports drinks, 2015-25
- Figure 18: Total China retail volumes and forecast of sports drinks, 2015-25
- Market value of energy drinks will rebound quickly and continue previous growth trajectory
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- Figure 19: Total China retail sales and forecast of energy drinks, 2015-25
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- Figure 20: Total China retail volumes and forecast of energy drinks, 2015-25
Market Factors
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- Growing awareness of health sprouts more casual athletes but habit of consuming sports and energy drinks remain weak
- Potential in female market with development of “she-conomy”
- Pressure to premiumise from parallel categories
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- Figure 21: Proportion of claim categories of new product launches in RTDs, carbonated soft drinks, juice drinks, flavoured water, and other beverages, select claim categories, 2017-2020
Key Players – What You Need to Know
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- Leading players in both sports and energy drinks markets lose value share
- Sports and energy brands expand through novel sponsorships or claims
- Innovation to meet specialized demand
Market Share
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- Reignwood Group continues to lose value share despite decreasing reliance on Red Bull
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- Figure 22: Leading players’ value share of the energy drinks market, China, 2018-2019
- Eastroc announces strong performance leading to IPO
- Sports drink market becomes more fragmented
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- Figure 23: Leading players’ value share of the sports drinks market, China, 2018-2019
Competitive Strategies
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- Using sponsorships and endorsements to reach target consumers
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- Figure 24: Snapshot of Monster Energy’s appearance in Death Stranding
- Increase offerings with minus claims
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- Figure 25: Proportion of new sports and energy drink launches featuring select claims, China, 2017-2019
- Extend product line to include niche claims
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- Figure 26: Zhongwo Ti Zhi Neng Liang, China, 2019
- Figure 27: Examples of Powerade products
Who’s Innovating?
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- Novel natural ingredients provide alternative to caffeine
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- Figure 28: Proportion of new energy drink launches featuring “caffeine free” claim, select markets, Jun 2018-Jul 2020
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- Figure 29: Synapse Natural Cognitive Boost
- Figure 30: Mindscopic, Clear Focus Caffeine Free
- Different formats may benefit in out-of-home occasions
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- Figure 31: Package type of new sports and energy drink launches, China, Jul 2018-Jun 2019
- Capsules increase portability of sports drinks
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- Figure 32: Examples of adidas Sport Drinks products
- Specialized formats and formulations for different physical activities
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- Figure 33: Examples of TORQ’s products
- Products to meet demands of female consumers
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- Figure 34: Osmo Active Hydration for Women
- Figure 35: Infographic on Eros Energy
- Brands innovate in sports and energy drinks sphere with niche positioning
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- Figure 36: Yuan Qi Sen Lin Alienergy products
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- Figure 37: RESPAWN energy drinks
The Consumer – What You Need to Know
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- Sports drinks rely more heavily on fitness occasions
- Young consumers more watchful of energy intake
- Difficult for consumers to discern health effects of sports and energy drinks
Consumption Occasion
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- Sports drinks more heavily associated with physical activity than energy drinks
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- Figure 38: Consumption occasion, May 2020
- Consumption occasion of sports drinks varies by gender
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- Figure 39: Consumption occasion – “Sports drinks”, by gender, May 2020
- Consumption of energy drinks more prominent in males across all occasions
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- Figure 40: Consumption occasion – “Energy drinks”, by gender, May 2020
- Opportunities for energy drinks to target gamers, especially young males
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- Figure 41: Consumption occasion – “When playing video games”, by subcategory, by gender, May 2020
Brand Penetration
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- Brand usage is dominated by leading players of each subcategory
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- Figure 42: Brand penetration, May 2020
- Hi-Tiger and Monster Energy appeal to young males
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- Figure 43: Brand penetration – Select brands, by gender and age, May 2020
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- Figure 44: Monster Energy official brand ambassador announcement
- Take more niche positioning for young males
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- Figure 45: Repertoire analysis of brand penetration, May 2020
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- Figure 46: Brand penetration by brand repertoire groups, May 2020
Purchase Channel
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- Online channels become more notable for sports and energy drinks
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- Figure 47: Purchase channel, May 2020
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- Figure 48: Impact of COVID-19 on grocery shopping channels – Select channels, Feb-Aug 2020
- Gym and sports facility provides short route to young males
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- Figure 49: Purchase channels – “Gym/sports facility”, by gender and age, May 2020
- Figure 50: SeaSport Pro Watermelon Flavoured Isotonic Mix, Portugal, 2019
Purchase Considerations
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- Vitamin and mineral content is considered by most consumers
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- Figure 51: Product information to check for when purchasing, May 2020
- Purchase considerations determined by existing perceptions
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- Figure 52: Product information to check for when purchasing – select factors chosen, by attitude towards “Drinking sports or energy drinks frequently is unhealthy (eg lead to obesity)”, May 2020
- Potential in carbonated sports and energy drinks
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- Figure 53: % of new launches of liquid sports and energy drinks with carbonated texture, China, Jul 2018-Jun 2020
- Young consumers are more mindful about energy intake
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- Figure 54: Product information to check for when purchasing – Select factors, by age, May 2020
Interest in Additional Claims
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- Immunity claims rising in demand in the “next normal”
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- Figure 55: Interest in additional claims, May 2020
- Include different marketing language to appeal to males and females
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- Figure 56: Interest in additional claims – Select claims, by gender, May 2020
- Increase offerings for focus in gaming occasion
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- Figure 57: Interest in additional claims – “Helping increase concentration”, by select consumption occasions, May 2020
- Figure 58: C4 Peach Mango Nectar Smart Energy Superbrain Performance Fuel, USA, 2020
- Energy drinks targeting the work and study occasion should be dual function
Attitudes towards Sports and Energy Drinks
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- Sports and energy drinks have distanced themselves from negative associations but can increase variety
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- Figure 59: Attitudes towards sports and energy drinks, May 2020
- Difficult for consumers to perceive health effects
- Increase flavour offerings for young consumers
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- Figure 60: Attitudes towards sports and energy drinks – Agree with “There are limited flavours available for sports or energy drinks”, by age and gender, May 2020
- Figure 61: Top 10 flavour components of new sports and energy drink launches, China, Jul 2018-Jun 2020
Meet the Mintropolitans
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- MinTs general hold more positive attitudes and expect more functions from sports and energy drinks
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- Figure 62: Interest in additional claims – Select claims, by consumer classification, May 2020
- MinTs value different factors
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- Figure 63: Purchase considerations – Select factors chosen, by consumer classification, May 2020
Appendix – Market Size, Segmentation and Forecast
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- Figure 64: Total market value of sports drinks, China, 2015-25
- Figure 65: Total market value of energy drinks, China, 2015-25
- Figure 66: Total market volume of sports drinks, China, 2015-25
- Figure 67: Total market volume of energy drinks, China, 2015-25
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Appendix – Methodology and Abbreviations
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- Methodology
- Abbreviations
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