New Zealand’s beverage volume declined by 0.3% in Q4 2020, on a Year-on-Year (Y-o-Y) basis, owing to declines in volumes of all sectors except dairy drinks, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

GlobalData’s report, ‘New Zealand 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 beverages, saw a modest volume decline, with gains in hot tea and other hot drinks categories offset by losses in hot coffee.

Dairy drink volumes grew at a moderate pace, led by strong gains in drinking yogurt and flavored milk categories, while all other categories posted moderate gains during Q4 2020.

Anchal Bisht, Consumer Analyst at GlobalData, says: “The soft drinks sector saw a strong growth in the iced/RTD coffee drinks category volume in the quarter, while packaged water and enhanced water categories also made moderate gains.”

Alcoholic beverages saw their volumes decline at a moderate pace of 2.3% during Q4 2020 with consumption falling across all categories. Cider was the only category that posted a rise in volumes during this period.

Ms. Bisht 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 and sales of beverages through on premise and off-premise channels.”