Innovation is the name of the game for juices and teas heading into 2024.
In recent years, juices and teas have experienced soft performance, noted Gary Hemphill, managing director of research for Beverage Marketing Corp.
In general, juice and tea dollar sales are up for the 52 weeks ending Dec. 31, 2023, according to Chicago-based market research firm Circana. However, unit sales for many subcategories are dipping, likely due to increasing prices per unit, among other factors.
“We’re projecting soft performance for both categories once again in 2024,” said Hemphill. “Fruit beverages have struggled due to the high sugar content of many of the products, limited innovation and high relative prices. While ready-to-drink teas are positioned well from a health and wellness perspective, they have also lacked breakthrough innovation in recent years.”
Pete’s Convenient Stores, too, has found juices to be trending downward recently.
“We took that into consideration when resetting the coolers for 2024,” said Brenda Elsworth, chief operating officer for Pete’s. Pete’s operates 53 convenience stores in Missouri, Oklahoma and Kansas.
This is why, heading into 2024 and beyond, retailers need to look for the innovation that has boosted so many other categories and find creative ways to market these products. Additionally, new promotions, bundling opportunities and stocking lower-sugar juices could help pave the way for a brighter 2024.
Though juices have not hit their mark in 2023 for Pete’s, teas have been holding steady, noted Elsworth.
Stocking a wider variety of tea products may just move sales forward in the future and bring about more avid tea drinkers.
Sales Breakdown
Bottled juices currently hold the largest share of juice and tea dollar sales, per Circana, while canned and bottled tea maintain the top spot for unit sales.
However, canned juices experienced the largest unit sales increase for the last calendar year at 15.5% to reach 254 million. Dollar sales for the segment jumped 21.9% to hit $424 million.
Aseptic juices also underwent a significant growth spurt, increasing by 14.1% in dollar sales and 8.2% in unit sales.
To keep high numbers rising and turn low numbers around, Hemphill noted new flavors are a chief opportunity for convenience stores in 2024.
At Pete’s, the juice flavors that perform well are orange juice, apple juice and lemonade. Popular package sizes are 12 ounces. For teas, Gold Peak Sweet Black, Gold Peak Extra Sweet, Peace Tea Razzleberry and Peace Tea Georgia Peach are the top sellers.
Pete’s customers prefer 18.5- and 23-ounce sized teas.
“Consumers like to try new products. Be open to innovation. Merchandise well; beverages are often impulse purchases that respond well if merchandised cold at different store locations,” Hemphill said.
