Report: Sales of carbonated soft drinks growing

Coca-Cola’s new strategies, new flavors appear to be paying off.

The U.S. beverage industry increased sales by $2.1 billion in 2017, with carbonated soft drinks and bottled water leading the way.

A newly released annual report by industry publication Beverage Digest showed retail sales jumped to $135.7 billion last year.

The report noted a shift in strategy by beverage companies, with a focus on increasing how much money they make rather than how many items they sell, which has previously been used to measure consumer demand.

“Value has become an important metric to consider when judging beverage industry health and performance during the current era of premiumization and market fragmentation,” the report read.

Last year, Coke announced the new strategy.

“This transformed strategy is grounded in giving the consumer the choices and packages they want, for the occasions they want, at prices they are willing to pay,” a company report read in part.

The company recently introduced new flavors and smaller packaging to its diet coke brand in an effort to attract a new generation of drinkers.

The strategy seems to be working as the company’s latest first quarter results showed higher returns from the sale of the rebranded carbonated drinks, which drove the company’s growth.

“We are working to build on last year’s momentum with even more exciting innovation for consumers in 2018, such as the recent relaunch of Diet Coke, the continued success of Coke Zero Sugar and the introduction of many other new products throughout our portfolio,” said Jim Dinkins, president of Coca-Cola North America.