Soda market loses pop

U.S. carbonated soft-drink volume fell for the fourth straight year in 2008 as a difficult economy and changing consumer tastes pulled down the category, Beverage Digest reported Monday.

Last year, carbonated-soft drink volume declined 3 percent to 9.6 billion cases, the lowest level since 1997, according to figures from Beverage Digest, a New York-based trade publication.

Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Co. remained the largest soft-drink maker with 42.7 percent of the market. Its volume fell 3.1 percent.

PepsiCo, based in Purchase, N.Y., was second with 30.8 percent of the market. Its volume fell 4 percent.

Consumers continued to migrate to other types of beverages, such as teas and flavored waters, said John Sicher, editor and publisher of Beverage Digest. Last year, carbonated soft-drinks likely lost some consumers to tap water, too, he said.

In 2008, factors outside the beverage industry also affected soft-drink sales, Sicher said. “The industry got hurt by high gas prices in the summer and then by the economy in the fall and winter,” he said.

Coke was the top-selling brand followed by Pepsi. Diet Coke was a close third.