Early Heatwave Sparks Surge in '0' Calorie Drinks... Who Will Win the Summer Battle?

Zero-Calorie Beverage Craze in Healthy Pleasure Trend
Industry Competition Heats Up as Summer Approaches
Coca-Cola Leads Zero-Carbonated Drinks, Followed by Lotte Chilsung's Surge
Convenience Stores Also Launching Successive PB Products

[Asia Economy Reporters Seungyoon Song and Jinyoung Jeon] As the trend of prioritizing health has taken root across society due to COVID-19, the craze for 'zero-calorie' beverages continues. Ahead of the peak summer season, competition among beverage and convenience store companies has intensified.

According to market research firm Euromonitor on the 27th, the domestic zero-calorie carbonated beverage market grew 27% in two years from 90.3 billion KRW in 2016 to 115.5 billion KRW in 2018. It then increased by 14% to 131.9 billion KRW in 2020, another two years later. The industry estimates that last year this market surpassed 210 billion KRW.

Currently, zero-calorie carbonated beverages account for about 20% of the total carbonated beverage market. With the growing importance of health management, consumer preference is increasing, and as channels expand to places like restaurants, the industry expects this share to gradually grow.

Although exact sales figures or rankings have never been publicly disclosed, Coca-Cola is estimated to have consistently held the number one position in the zero-calorie carbonated beverage sector. 'Coca-Cola Zero' sales in the third quarter of last year grew 65% compared to the same period the previous year. Since the launch of Coca-Cola Zero in 2006, it had no rivals, but recently Lotte Chilsung Beverage's rapid growth has been formidable. Lotte Chilsung Beverage's 'Pepsi Zero Sugar' and 'Chilsung Cider Zero' sales increased by 87.5 billion KRW compared to the previous year. Since their launch, both products have steadily sold 10 million cans per month. In fact, Coca-Cola, known for its policy of not offering sales promotions, responded to this threat by holding zero-cola discount events at convenience stores.

Lotte Chilsung Beverage 'Toms Zero' 3 types./Photo by Lotte Chilsung Beverage

The fruit-flavored zero-calorie carbonated beverage 'Tams Zero,' launched earlier this month, sold 4.1 million cans in less than a month as of the 25th. Lotte Chilsung Beverage plans to introduce zero-calorie options not only in the fruit-flavored carbonated beverage market but also in the milkyis and hot6 energy drink markets. Woongjin Foods also entered the zero-calorie carbonated beverage market in earnest by releasing two new products, '815 Fizz Zero,' following the launch of '815 Cola Zero' in April last year. Both products are online-exclusive and employ a low-price sales strategy.

Convenience stores have also joined the zero-calorie war by consecutively launching pouch-type zero-calorie private brand (PB) products. GS25 released 'Yours Zero Lemonade' and 'Yours Zero Grapefruit Black Tea,' while Emart24 partnered with Kolon Sports to launch three pouch beverages, including 'Saecom Sosot Lemon Zeroade.'

The sales proportion of zero-calorie beverages is steadily increasing even in convenience stores. For example, BGF Retail reported that zero-calorie beverage sales grew 25.9% week-on-week from the 18th to the 24th of last month. During the same period, GS25 saw a 25.8% increase, and Emart24 experienced a 17% rise.

An industry insider said, "Interest in health has increased through the COVID-19 crisis, and demand for zero-calorie beverages that can be consumed without calorie concerns has surged. While carbonated beverages containing high fructose corn syrup are expected to slow down, zero-calorie beverages are anticipated to grow significantly at over 10% annually."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.