Sugar and healthiness remain key driving forces within the Irish soft drinks market, and moving forward, as companies come under more scrutiny to make their drinks more healthy, this will likely help to drive forward innovation in low-sugar drinks, or those that use natural low calorie sweeteners instead.

For the purposes of this report, Mintel has used the following definitions:

This report will examine the sale and consumption of carbonated and non-carbonated beverages throughout the island of Ireland in both the on-trade and off-trade. On-trade sales are defined as sales of non-carbonated drinks via pubs, bars, restaurants or cafés for consumption on premises, while off-trade sales are defined for those made via retailers such as supermarkets and convenience stores.

For the purposes of this report, Mintel defines the non-carbonates market as covering all non-carbonated soft drinks sold through the retail and non-retail channels, but excluding sales of hot drinks such as tea and coffee. Please note that sales of alcoholic beverages are not examined within this report, but mixers intended to be used with alcohol are included.

Data includes sales through the following outlets:

• Take-home (including impulse): This includes grocery retail outlets where non-carbonated soft drinks are purchased for the purpose of in-home consumption or for drinking on the go, comprising supermarkets, convenience stores and petrol forecourts among others.

• On-premise: This includes anywhere where non-carbonated soft drinks are bought to consume on-site, eg leisure centres, hotels, restaurants, fast food venues, cafés, education establishments, the workplace and in the on-trade (ie pubs, bars and clubs).

The basic ingredients of soft drinks (excluding fruit juices and bottled water) are water, a sweetener, an acid and flavouring.

In order to maintain consistency with previous Mintel reports, the following categories are examined:

The bottled water market also benefits from favourable comparisons to rival categories in terms of health. This is particularly the case given that the high sugar content of some food and drink is a hot topic in both the media and political spheres at the moment, with carbonated soft drinks often singled out as among the worst offenders.

This report covers sales of bottled water including:

• Water for sale in PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottles and glass bottles

• Water offered for sale in other pack types, such as cans and cartons

• Plain water, ie unflavoured

• Flavoured waters and fortified waters which see mineral water enhanced with natural flavours, herbs, vitamins and/or sweeteners

• Carbonated water, also known as sparkling water, which is made by dissolving carbon dioxide into the water through a process of carbonation, is included as part of the carbonated drinks section.

Fruit juice and juice drinks can be described as:

• Fruit juice: These must legally be made of 100% pure fruit juice. This may or may not include pulp which is often pasteurised to make it last longer. A typical example is Tropicana Pure Fruit Juice.

• Juice drinks: These are drinks that contain less than 100% fruit juice and have added ingredients, mainly water but these can also include sweeteners, flavourings, colourings and/or vitamins. A juice drink must contain a minimum of 2% fruit, although most have a much greater proportion. This sector includes ready-to-drink (RTD) versions of concentrated squashes, eg Ribena.

For the purposes of this report, Mintel has defined the market for squashes and cordials in the following two ways:

• A standard squash is typically a drink requiring dilution in the ratio one part concentrate to four parts water, whereas a double concentrate dilutes in a one to eight ratio.

• Cordials tend to have a thicker consistency than squashes and require more water to dilute, typically with a ratio of one to 10. They tend to contain no preservatives, and often require chilled storage once opened. Brands include Bottlegreen and Belvoir.

The following categories are used:

• Colas, non-cola carbonates (including general fruit-flavoured carbonates, ‘traditional’ carbonates such as ginger beer and shandy and products such as root beer, carbonated iced teas, etc).

• Lemonades (including lemon-and-lime flavours), mixers (including tonic water, ginger ale, soda water and bitter lemon).

• Carbonated water, also known as sparkling water, which is made by dissolving carbon dioxide into the water.

• Soda water differs from fizzy water with the addition of sodium, and its status as a mixer rather than a drink to be consumed on its own.

All mainstream carbonated soft drinks are included in the market size. Diet carbonates are included.

Sports and energy drinks are not included within the Market Size and Forecast section of this market, but are examined as a competitor market within the Competitive Context.

Please note that data contained within the Market Size and Forecast section of this report may not match in some cases with previous reports due to more data becoming available and differences in market segmentation methods.