Thailand’s beverages industry volumes decreased by 10.3% in Q4 2020 owing to the volumetric decrease in all the sectors, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

GlobalData’s report, ‘Thailand Beverages Consumption Trends and Forecasts Tracker, Q4 2020 (Dairy and Soy Drinks, Alcoholic Drinks, Soft Drinks and Hot Drinks)’ reveals that soft drinks and bulk/HOD water recorded double-digit declines in Q4 2020.

Despite strong volume growth in enhanced water, followed by marginal gains in fruit powders and squash/syrups categories, the soft drinks sector posted a sharp decline of 13.3%, driven down by strong declines in iced/RTD tea and iced/RTD coffee categories. Bulk/HOD Water also lost 12.8% of volume in Q4 2020 on a Year-on-Year (Y-o-Y) basis.

Dairy drinks lost volumes in the same period with evaporated milk, white milk, flavored milk, and drinking yogurt posting strong declines in the quarter, even as condensed milk grew by 3.2%.

Tanumoy Chattopadhyay, Consumer Analyst at GlobalData, says: “Tourism is a large contributor to the Thai economy and the loss of tourist arrivals coupled with local restrictions on movement and business operations due to the global pandemic continued to plague ‘on-premise’ volumes, especially for soft drinks and alcoholic drinks.”

Alcoholic Drinks’ volumes suffered a fall of 5.8% in Q4 2020, with strong losses in flavored alcoholic beverages (FABs), spirits, and wine categories, largely attributed to restrictions on social gatherings and indoor seating at bars, pubs, and clubs.

Mr. Chattopadhyay concludes: “The much-anticipated COVID-19 vaccine plan kick-off is expected to bring some reprieve through a resurgence in economic activity and encourage tourist arrivals, both domestic and international, thus benefiting the country’s economy as well as consumption of beverages.”