Top 10 Most Popular Soft Drinks (Sodas)
What are the top-selling soft drinks in the USA?
The carbonated soft drink (CSD) market is dominated by three players: Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo, and Keurig Dr Pepper.
Each company markets many brands, with Coca-Cola Company having the larger market share. This is reflected in drink sales, with Coca-Cola Classic continuing to outsell Pepsi.
Sales volumes of traditional soft drinks continue to flatten as consumers demand low or no-sugar alternatives. The amount of soft drinks consumed per capita has been in decline since 1999 (now 43 gallons per person per year).
The following five soft drinks have been the most popular since 2014:
Top 10 soft drinks
- Coca-Cola
- Pepsi
- Diet Coke
- Dr Pepper
- Mountain Dew
- Sprite
- Diet Pepsi
- Coke Zero
- Fanta
- Diet Mountain Dew
Most sodas are caffeinated
Only two drinks in the top ten are caffeine-free (Sprite and Fanta). While caffeine levels are modest, some diet drinks have more caffeine than expected.
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Watching your caffeine intake? Get the latest brews and caffeine news.Who owns each brand or soft drink?
The beverage industry is bewilderingly complex. Globally, the entire carbonated beverage market is valued at USD 406 Billion.
Different companies market a multitude of brands and even have licensing agreements to supply other brands in different markets.
The big players look like this:
Coca Cola Company
The company offers more than 500 brands in more than 200 countries.
- Coca-cola
- Sprite
- Fanta
- Powerade
- Also, Minute Maid, Glaceau, Barq’s, Fresca, Appletiser, and many more.
PepsiCo
PepsiCo has a number of food brands (Frito-Lay: Doritos, Fritos) as well as a large number of drink brands. Some are surprising (for example, Sodastream belongs to PepsiCo. Rockstar energy drinks were acquired by PepsiCo in 2020).
As already stated – the industry is confusing: PepsiCo has the rights to 7 Up outside North America, but it’s Keurig Dr Pepper who sells 7 Up inside the USA!
- Pepsi
- Mountain Dew
- 7 Up (outside US)
- Gatorade
- Also, Starbucks RTDs, Lipton, Soda Stream
Keurig Dr Pepper
Keurig was originally Cadbury Schweppes, then it became Dr Pepper Snapple Group, which was then acquired by Keurig Green Mountain… which became Keurig Dr Pepper.
- Dr Pepper
- 7 Up (inside US)
- Sunkist, Sun Drop, Schweppes, A&W, RC Cola.
Top beverage brands in the world
These brands are ordered by estimated brand value and give a good indication of soft drink popularity.
Note that beverage companies may own many different brands, which can vary between regions.
| Rank | Name | Revenue (2023) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Coca-Cola | $33,468 M |
| 2 | Pepsi | $18,335 M |
| 3 | Red Bull | $6,962 M |
| 4 | Monster | $6,788 M |
| 5 | Nescafé | $6,005 M |
| 6 | Gatorade | $4,916 M |
| 7 | Dr Pepper | $4,401 M |
| 8 | Sprite | $4,166 M |
| 9 | Nongfu Spring | $4,113 M |
| 10 | Lipton | $3,021 M |
It’s important to note that many of the brands listed in the table above are subsidiaries of major brands like Coca-Cola and PepsiCo.
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