Unveiling Thirst Trends in Thailand's Carbonated Soft Drink Market
A Kantar Out of Home Panel Analysis on Thai Beverage Habits
Introducing Kantar’s Out of home (OOH) panel
90% of Thai people in urban areas drink CSD out of home
Functional Carbonated Soft Drinks – a new choice for Thai consumers
Authors
At Worldpanel, we closely observe Thai consumers’ out-of-home (OOH) consumption behaviour. We have found that the beverage sector offers the best case study to help us see how the FMCG market is developing in the country.
Many beverage categories are currently being dropped by consumers, especially Functional Drinks and Juices.
The Thai beverage market is still largely made up of branded packaged drinks, or products that come in a specific format with a recognisable brand name – a trend that has continued following the COVID lockdowns. Even in restaurants and liquor stores, branded beverages have grown their volume share.
The loose pack format is driven by Ready to Drink Coffee (RTD Coffee) and Ready to Drink Tea (RTD Tea). The recovery of made-to-order coffee and tea was something that was expected to happen following the return of OOH activities.
Today, Thai consumers have a greater choice of products within the beverage sector than ever before, especially within Carbonated Soft Drinks (CSD). CSD is one of the categories that relies more on the branded packaged format, and as a result we have seen different brands competing fiercely for consumers’ attention.
As the strongest category in the beverage sector, CSD has continued to develop the market over the past few years, by coming out with new brands, segments, and SKUs. This has presented Thai people with many choices, whether it be brands, flavours, sizes, or health benefits.
