Over the next 10 years, Hispanic consumers would account for 60% of liquid refreshment beverage (LRB) growth in the US, CEO Al Carey told the Deutsche Bank Global Consumer Conference in Paris yesterday.
He also predicted that flavoured carbonated soft drinks (CSDs) would outsell colas by 2015, as he earmarked the LRB categories with the best growth potential.
Said Carey: “It looks like by 2015 flavoured CSDs will outsell colas...where are we with these businesses? I feel very good about our future plans… but we need to capitalise upon it."
He added: “I think there’s going to be more than 40% of LRB growth will come from teas in the next ten years…Latinos are going to be 60% of the total LRB growth in North America. You’d better be Latino focused.”
Teas and flavoured soft drinks catered for Hispanic tastes, he added - with this trend already playing out in PepsiCo's Latin American business - while Mountain Dew also had greater potential in the energy space, another category with stellar growth prospects.
“This category [energy drinks] is growing – I have to be honest with you, I thought it would slow down a little but it hasn’t," Carey said.
“Our position now is in Amp (our product) and Rockstar as a 60% distributor across the US – we have a 19% market share when you put those two together. But I really see energy being a place where the consumer is looking for new products and different experiences."
Carey said: "So we think energy is something they are looking at, even for pre-workout, midday energy boost (the traditional space) and healthy energy the are where people are really looking."
"There is consumer research that says, as consumers get a little older this notion of scary ingredients is turning them back in the direction of teas, coffees and even Mountain Dew," Carey added.