The Kazakhstan’s beverage industry posted a modest growth of 0.4% in Q4 2020, on a Y-o-Y basis with the rise in volume driven by gains in soft drinks, bulk/HOD water, and dairy drinks, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

GlobalData’s report, ‘Kazakhstan Beverages Consumption Trends and Forecasts Tracker, Q4 2020 (Dairy and Soy Drinks, Alcoholic Drinks, Soft Drinks and Hot Drinks)’, reveals that hot drinks, the largest sector of the beverages industry, saw volumes shrink by 4.2% in Q4 2020, compared to the last quarter of 2019, driven down by strong declines in hot tea and other hot drinks categories.

Dairy Drinks, the second largest sector of beverages, grew at a moderate pace, led by gains in fermented milk, white milk, and soymilk categories. The drinking yogurt category lost volumes by 1.3% while volume change in flavored milk remained flat.

Monika Bargla, Consumer Analyst at GlobalData, says: “The soft drinks sector benefited from the strong growth in carbonates volumes in the quarter along with healthy rise in energy drinks volumes. Other categories such as packaged water and flavored water posted moderate gains.”

The volumes of alcoholic drinks were also dragged down by strong declines in flavored alcoholic beverages (FABs), beer, spirits, and sake categories.

Ms. Bargla concludes: “The much-anticipated commencement of COVID-19 mass vaccination plan is expected to bring some reprieve through a resurgence in economic activity, benefiting the country’s economy as well as the consumption of beverages.”