MEDIA RELEASE PR36162
Global Beverage Players Keep the Faith in BRIC Markets
BASINGSTOKE, Sept. 16 / PRNewswire-AsiaNet / --
Once touted as a unique combination of high growth markets, the BRIC
nations of Brazil, Russia, India and China have enjoyed varying fortunes
during the great economic downturn of 2009. Projections after the first half
of the year from Canadean's new Quarterly Beverage Tracker, point to China
and to a lesser extent India already shrugging off any financial woes with
both countries set for healthy volume rises in 2009. Beverages in Brazil are
set to rise by a more modest 2% this year but demand in Russia is set to
contract by 2%.
Latest Commercial Beverage Volume Forecasts for 2009
BRIC Market % Change
2008-2009F
China + 8.4
India + 3.7
Brazil + 2.1
Russia - 1.8
In China, the leading soft drinks players have invested in new product
launches and extensive marketing campaigns and this is expected to be
rewarded with a 15% jump in soft drink sales by the end of the year. June has
highlighted the willingness of the global soft drink giants to invest in
China. During this month Coca-Cola and its bottling partner COFCO opened two
new bottling plants in the Jiangxi and Xinjiang provinces. The two facilities
are part of Coca-Cola's US$2 bn investment plan in China. Meanwhile PepsiCo
opened a new plant in Chongqing and plans to build another five beverage
plants in China over the next two years.
In India, a long summer period in the north compared to 2008 boosted
sales of soft drinks in the second quarter. Considerable investments by
Coca-Cola and PepsiCo in their manufacturing operations have also contributed
to the first quarter forecasts being revised upwards by Canadean. PepsiCo
announced in June that it would double its investment in India in 2009. Local
Indian companies such as Bisleri and Parle Agro are also strong players in
the Indian market operating alongside the multinationals and all are looking
to capitalise on a future Indian boom.
The performance in Russia contrasts with the two Asian markets and
Canadean expects all commercial beverage categories to shrink this year with
the exception of hot drinks. Traditionally in times of economic difficulty
consumers have often turned to the low cost tea segment and 2009 is no
exception. The 2% projected decline in commercial beverage includes a
dramatic 11% drop in soft drinks. However, the figures have not been a
deterrent for soft drinks investment: PepsiCo announced that together with
its partner Pepsi Bottling Group, it is planning to invest US$1 bn in Russia
over the next three years.
The more developed of the BRIC nations, Brazil, is riding the downturn
well - Brazil was relatively well insulated from financial crisis and
domestic demand has remained strong. As a result the South American market
should see a 2% rise in beverage sales this year. With the exception of dairy
drinks, which will remain stable, Brazil is predicted to see year on year
volume growth of 2% for soft and alcoholic drinks while hot drinks and bulk
water should grow by 4%.
Despite the deterioration in the global economic environment there is
still plenty of optimism that the BRIC markets will realise their undoubted
potential in the longer term, even the worst affected of the four - Russia.
The evidence suggests that the downturn is seen by many as an opportunity and
that the beverage industry is prepared to live with uncertainty in the
shorter term, in order to reap the benefits in the long run.
For further details on Canadean's Quarterly Beverage Tracker or any of
Canadean's other beverage reports, please contact Debra Richards on
tel: +44(0)1256-394-224.
Editor's Note:
Canadean is the leading supplier of information, marketing research and
consultancy services to the global beverage and beverage packaging
industries.
With headquarters in the UK but with offices around the world, Canadean
has built a reputation as the benchmark for global beverage market
intelligence. Local operations are now based in Madrid, Buenos Aires, Mexico
City, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai and Sydney.
Issued by the Corporate Marketing Department of Canadean Ltd, the leading
global beverage research company.
Canadean Ltd
12 Faraday Court
Rankine Road
Basingstoke
RG24 8PF
England
Tel: +44(0)1256-394210
Fax: +44(0)1256-394201
Email: sales@canadean.com
Source: Canadean Limited
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