CANADA: Outlook bright for Canada’s soft drink industry

Canada has seen its soft drinks industry grow over 175% in the last 25 years and today total annual sales exceed 3.5 billion litres, which is equivalent to more than six canned soft drinks a week per capita, according to a recent report.Changes to consumption patterns, as Canadians spend more time on other activities, have been attributed to the changes. The Canadian Soft Drinks Association (CSDA) believes these have led to an increase in prepared and packaged meals and drinks. Industry leaders are predicting a healthy growth of 3.5% for this year.As the scarred Canadian economy came out of a major recession in the early 1990's, so did the soft drinks industry. The recession may have left its mark but according to the CSDA figures, volumes of soft drinks sold in Canada have still grown over 37% since 1989 and the growth rate has generally outpaced the rate of population growth.The beverage business is a $7 billion industry in Canada and with continuing signs of a stable and growing Canadian economy, the outlook for the Canadian soft drinks industry for the millennium looks bright.