Who Rules the Global Beverage Industry?
Just two corporate powerhouses dominate the global market for soft drinks: PepsiCo. Inc. (PEP) and The Coca-Cola Corp. (KO).
Since 2004, Coca-Cola has been the market leader. Coca-Cola remains the world’s most valuable soft drink brand with a market cap of $266.173 billion as of April 26, 2024. PepsiCo. is a close second at $241.386 billion. Keurig Dr. Pepper (KDP) was the third soft drink brand with a $45.71 billion market cap.
Some analysts believe that Pepsi has a shot at surpassing Coca-Cola soon, but not by selling more soda. Pepsi also has a broad lineup of snack brands like Doritos, Cheetos, and Lay's Potato Chips.
Key Takeaways:
- PepsiCo. Inc. and The Coca-Cola Corporation are the two powerhouses controlling the bulk of the carbonated soft drink (CSD) and beverage industry.
- Both companies have a large global presence, controlling several hundred brand names each.
- Since 2004, Coca-Cola Company has been the market leader, according to industry statistics.
- Pepsi ranks second, followed by Keurig Dr. Pepper.
Understanding the Soft Drinks Industry
Soft drinks belong to the non-alcoholic beverage industry. This industry produces carbonated drinks, juice, bottled water, sports and energy drinks, and hot and iced coffee and tea. The market leaders in this industry are The Coca-Cola Corporation, PepsiCo Inc., and Keurig Dr. Pepper.
The Coca-Cola Corporation and PepsiCo are long-term competitors. Pepsi has been using its famous "Pepsi Challenge" as a promotional slogan since 1975. The challenge was originally a blind taste test in which consumers were invited to try both beverages. Pepsi was the winner, and a long-running ad campaign was born.
World's Favorite Drinks 2023
The top-selling non-alcoholic drinks worldwide in 2023 were:
- Coca-Cola Classic
- Pepsi Cola
- Red Bull
- Monster
- Nescafe
- Gatorade (owned by PepsiCo)
- Dr Pepper
- Sprite (owned by Coca-Cola)
- Nongfu Spring
- Lipton
Market Share and Market Cap
Both Coca-Cola, Inc. and PepsiCo dropped in market share by about 5-6% over the trailing twelve months through the first quarter of 2024.
Coca-Cola had a market cap of $261 billion and PepsiCo had a market cap of $242 billion as of the end of the first quarter.
Healthy Directions
Their historic rivalry isn't the only concern facing executives of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo. Consumer tastes are evolving away from sugary drinks and towards healthier alternatives and energy drinks.
Both companies are trying to evolve with them.
Coca-Cola brands now include Simply juices, smartwater, Dasani, and vitaminwater.
PepsiCo owns Quaker Foods, Tropicana, and Aquafina,
co*ke vs. Pepsi: Who Sells More Soft Drinks?
Coca-Cola's carbonated soft drinks brands dominated the U.S. market at a 69% U.S. market share in 2023, according to AdAge. Pepsi brands were a distant second at 27%.
co*ke vs. Pepsi: How Are They Different as Companies?
One big difference is that Coca-Cola has stuck pretty much to non-alcoholic drinks while expanding. Its brands include Fanta, Minute Maid, Fresca, Barq's, and Costa Coffee, among others.
PepsiCo, meanwhile, has expanded heavily into foods, particularly snack foods. Its brands include Lay's and Ruffles potato chips, Tostitos, Starbucks Frappaccinno, and Sabra Hummus, as well as Quaker Oats.
Who Cares About the Cola Wars?
You'd be surprised. A February 2024 story in the website Deadline reports that Sony Pictures won a hot bidding war for "Cola Wars," a movie script that tells the riveting story of underdog PepsiCo's epic decades-long rivalry with reigning cola king Coca-Cola.
The Bottom Line
Times have changed since the development of carbonated beverages. Consumers have begun to seek out healthier alternatives. Both cola brands have seen a recent decline amid increased competition, and analysts foresee a continued downward trend for the two main brands.
However, these two companies are expected to continue to dominate the overall beverage market.
FAQs
Coca-Cola has a higher market capitalization than PepsiCo, with co*ke's market cap at $242 billion compared to Pepsi's market cap at $189 billion. PepsiCo's revenue in 2020 was $70.37 billion, while Coca-Cola's revenue was $33 billion in the same year.
Who dominates the soft drink industry? ›
Coca-Cola has been consistently ranked as the top soft drink brand worldwide, with a global brand value of over 98 billion U.S. dollars.
Who is the market leader in soft drinks? ›
co*ke has reigned for decades as the best-selling soft drink in the United States. At 130 years old, co*ke also is the most consumed soda in the world, with an estimated 1.9 billion servings across 200 countries. As a result, Coca-Cola is one of the world's most valuable brands.
What is Coca-Cola's rank in the beverage industry? ›
1: Coca-Cola.
Is Pepsi more ethical than co*ke? ›
Coca-Cola brands, which includes Fanta, Dr Pepper, Sprite, and many more, receive a score of 55 in our table. PepsiCo, which owns 7Up, Copella, Pepsi, and Tropicana, receives a score of 41.
Has Pepsi ever outsold co*ke? ›
In 1983, Pepsi outsold co*ke in supermarkets, forcing co*ke to rely on its bigger network of soda fountains and fast food tie-ins to maintain its market dominance. That was a triumph. And it gets better: because of Pepsi, Coca-Cola made a disastrous decision.
Who bigger, Coca-Cola or Pepsi? ›
co*ke is still the top soda in America. But the runner up spot, long held by Pepsi, now belongs to Dr Pepper. After years of slowly gaining market share, Dr Pepper inched ahead of Pepsi as the number two soda brand in the country in 2023, according to market share data from Beverage Digest, a trade publication.
Do Americans drink more co*ke or Pepsi? ›
co*ke, which has been the nation's dominant carbonated beverage for decades, remained at the top spot, according to Beverage Digest, which looked at sales-volume data for the rankings.
Do people prefer co*ke or Pepsi? ›
In the blind taste test, the difference in percentage of participants who preferred co*ke over Pepsi decreased (Figure 1b). Forty-six percent preferred the taste of co*ke and 39% preferred the taste of Pepsi. About 15% of the participants showed no preference in the taste test.
What is the No 1 selling soft drink? ›
Coca-Cola comes from the United States. It was developed in Atlanta, Georgia, and quickly spread across the world. It is not only the most popular soft drink in the United States, but also the most popular soft drink on the planet.
Coca-Cola has a higher market capitalization than PepsiCo, with co*ke's market cap at $242 billion compared to Pepsi's market cap at $189 billion. PepsiCo's revenue in 2020 was $70.37 billion, while Coca-Cola's revenue was $33 billion in the same year.
Does Coca-Cola own Pepsi? ›
Pepsi is not owned by Coca-Cola. The two companies have competed for more than 100 years and are the world's biggest beverage companies. They effectively have a duopoly in the beverages sector, though they do compete with smaller companies like Keurig Dr Pepper (NASDAQ:KDP).
Who owns Coca-Cola now? ›
The ownership structure of Coca-Cola Bottling Co Consolidated (co*kE) stock is a mix of institutional, retail and individual investors. Approximately 42.75% of the company's stock is owned by Institutional Investors, 32.86% is owned by Insiders and 24.40% is owned by Public Companies and Individual Investors.
Who won the Cola Wars? ›
This month, the astonishing news broke that, after more than a century of pitched battle – including ad skirmishes, frantic marketing, and taste tests on both Earth and in space – the cola wars were officially over. Coca-Cola had always been the winner, but its longtime rival, Pepsi, was no longer No 2.
Why did Pepsi lose to Coca-Cola? ›
Pepsi's critical failure was in not facilitating a complete customer conversion. They didn't do enough to get people to switch to Pepsi as their default cola. Imagine yourself a loyal co*ke drinker, taking the Pepsi challenge, and (quite to your utter shock) picking Pepsi.
Who is Coca-Cola's biggest rival? ›
For over a century, PepsiCo has been its fiercest competitor, constantly pushing Coca-Cola to innovate and adapt. PepsiCo, formed in 1965 through the merger of Pepsi-Cola and Frito-Lay, offers a direct rival to Coca-Cola in the carbonated soft drink market with its flagship Pepsi brand.
Who is the largest soft drink manufacturer? ›
1. PepsiCo. PepsiCo is an American multinational company that produces various popular soft drinks, including Pepsi-Cola, Mountain Dew, Gatorade, and Tropicana. With a revenue of $79.47 billion in 2022, it is the largest soda company in the world.
What are the top 5 soft drink companies? ›
The Coca-Cola Co, PepsiCo Inc, BlueTriton Brands, Keurig Dr Pepper Inc, and Walmart Inc are the top 5 soft drink companies in the US in 2021 by volume.
Who owns soft drink industry? ›
PepsiCo. Inc. and The Coca-Cola Corporation are the two powerhouses controlling the bulk of the carbonated soft drink (CSD) and beverage industry.
