Even though the global market share is slightly decreasing, these drinks are still the bestselling sodas in the world.
Soda has been a popular kind of drink for a long time. The refreshing feeling it gives is nothing like others. It is the best beverage to go with popular foods in popular occasion like eating pizza at the pub while watching football match. That is why despite all the health issues, people are still drinking these bestselling sodas.
Yes, most soda drinks contain a lot of sugar. In fact, some even way sweeter than any other beverages. And if you drink them too much or too often, they may jeopardize your health.
But hey, we are not going to talk about that for now. Here, we discuss what these sodas are valued and how they are doing in the market today. We will also take a look at some of people’s favorite flavors and the secret behind them.
So, we have done our research and came up with these fifteen bestselling sodas in the world. And they are ranked based on the brand value in 2016. I hope you are not thirsty because we are going through fifteen tempting sparkling water!
15. Mirinda (Brand Value: $1 billion)
We start with Mirinda as the 15th bestselling soda with $1 billion brand value. Produced by PepsiCo, it is actually originated in Spain from the year of 1960s. Then in 2003, it was introduced in United States with bilingual packaging.
Back then, it was sold under Tropicana Twister brand, which shares similar flavor, orange. But nine years ago, PepsiCo started to sell it under its own brand, Mirinda.
As it was first introduced, Mirinda was more commonly known as the cheap version of Fanta, which is the product of Pepsi’s biggest competitor, Coca-Cola. But its price began to rise along with its brand awareness.
The most popular flavor of Mirinda soda is orange. Back in Spain, it was actually produced with a mix of real orange juice. But today, it is all artificial. Besides orange, Mirinda comes with different fruits flavor like apple, grape, strawberry and many kinds of citrus fruits.
14. Kagome (Brand Value: $1.1 billion)
Kagome is known as a major processor of fruit and vegetables in Japan. The company’s favorite ingredient, as can be seen from its logo, is tomato. And it claims to be the biggest supplier of tomato ketchup and tomato juice in Japan.
One of Kagome’s most popular drink products is sparkling tomato juice, which is basically carbonated tomato juice. It may seem simple but Kagome claims to have the best ingredients to produce this fine juice.
Kagome began cultivating tomatoes in 1899. More than one century later, it became the leading fruits and vegetables producer in Japan, especially tomato. In fact, the manufacturer of one of the world’s most expensive beer, Asahi, has been partnering with Kagome. Together, they are developing low alcohol fruit and vegetable drinks.
Today, Kagome’s brand value has reached $1.1 billion. This is huge considering their products are sold only in Japan and some regions of Asia and North America.
13. Minute Maid (Brand Value: $1.2 billion)
Next up with $1.2 billion brand value is a part of The Coca-Cola Company, Minute Maid. Commonly associated with orange juice drinks, the brand has extended its playground to sodas through several soft drink products as seen on the picture above.
Founded more than seventy years ago as Florida Foods Corporation, Minute Maid is the largest marketer of fruit juices and drinks in the world today. And some of their products have been the trend-setters for orange juice market, such as those with pulps or the concentrate ones.
The making of Minute Maid orange juice concentrate actually has a unique story behind it. The company won a $750,000 government contract to produce concentrated orange juice powder for U.S army during the World War II. But before that happened, the war ended and the company decided to create frozen orange juice concentrate instead.
Minute Maid products are sold worldwide. However, in some regions of South America, it is sold under the brand Frugos.
12. Dr Pepper (Brand Value: $1.9 billion)
Depending on where you are drinking it, Dr Pepper is produced by three different companies. In United States, Dr Pepper soda you drink is produced by the 1885 origin company, Dr Pepper Snapple Group. But worldwide, this pepper-style drink is produced by two leading soft drink companies, PepsiCo (for Canada and Oceania) and Coca-Cola (for Europe).
Originated in Texas, no one really knows why Wade Morrison named it Dr Pepper. Some believe that the word “pepper” comes from pepsin, which was believed to be one of the main ingredients of this unique drink.
Some others believe that it was named after Dr. Charles T. Pepper, who was Morrison’s father in law. It was his form of gratitude for either giving him the first job or for letting him marrying Pepper’s daughter. But the real reason remains unknown.
The brand, Dr Pepper, has reached a value of $1.9 billion today. There are many variants of Dr Pepper drinks, but the original one, with caramel color, is still the most popular among all.
11. 7 Up (Brand Value: $2.3 billion)
Another product from Dr Pepper Snapple Group is up next. Surprisingly, 7 Up exceeds the company’s main product brand value. The sales of this lemon-lime soda bring $2.3 billion value to its brand, which is almost a half billion higher than Dr Pepper’s.
Who would expect that the short, catchy name of 7 Up was actually way longer when it was first introduced in the 1920s? It was called the Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda. Then it was changed to 7 Up Lithiated Lemon Soda. And only until 1936, it was finally labeled just 7 Up. Thank goodness.
Elsewhere but in United States, 7 Up is produced by PepsiCo. For this worldwide product, 7 Up uses a different logo. The U.S. version of 7 Up has a red cherry between “7” and “Up”. While in the worldwide PepsiCo version, the “up” is written on the cherry.
7 Up has similar flavor with its biggest competitor, Sprite. It is a mixture of lemon and lime. It is colorless, except its cherry variants, which is pink. However, these other variants are available in United States only.
10. Monster (Brand Value: $2.5 billion)
Commonly known as energy drink manufacturer, Monster actually produces soft drinks and fruit drinks as well. Founded in 1935, the company was actually named Hansen. Only until 2007 it was renamed to Monster.
It is not the company’s fault that not many people (worldwide) know its soda products. Monster Energy is indeed the world’s third biggest energy drink manufacturer. It is one of the biggest sponsors for sporting events such as MotoGP and NASCAR. But in United States, Monster’s soda is quite popular.
This fact is proven by the $2.5 billion brand value Monster has in 2016. Most of Monster’s soda products are sold under Hansen brand, its origin. They are natural soda with twelve flavors of fruits.
Mutant Super Soda is probably the most popular soda product from Monster. You can call it the hybrid of energy drink and soft drink, or lighter version of energy drink, or just a variant to takeover Mountain Dew’s market.
9. Tropicana (Brand Value: $2.6 billion)
Even though some people say soda is not good for health, more and more beverage companies create a new line of carbonated drink to its production. And it seems like adding the word “sparkling” to your beverage product will do the trick.
That applies to Tropicana, one of the leading fruit-based beverages manufacturers in United States. Founded in 1947, it has been owned by PepsiCo since 1998. And that was the beginning of Tropicana Twister Soda.
As the soda product started to sell out in the market, Tropicana started producing more variants of its soda products. One of the bestselling is the Tropicana Frutz Sparkling, which is basically carbonated fruit juice.
These innovations of products have brought even more sales revenue to this company. And today, Tropicana has $2.6 billion brand value. Spoiler alert, even though Tropicana is only the 9th bestselling soda, that number is the highest among other fruit-based beverages.
8. Mountain Dew (Brand Value: $2.7 billion)
With only $200 million apart between their brand values, it seems like Monster has successfully unleashed its Mutant to challenge Mountain Dew’s market.
However, Mountain Dew’s manufacturer, PepsiCo, is not afraid of the competition. In fact, through this brand, PepsiCo is trying to break into the energy drink market with Amp Energy. Introduced more than seven decades ago, Mountain Dew is still one of the most popular sodas among all.
This citrus soft drink is not popular worldwide, probably because PepsiCo concentrates this brand’s sales in United States only. It is understandable, since the similar taste with 7 Up, which is also produced by PepsiCo worldwide, may confuse the market.
Besides the original citrus flavor, there have been more than forty flavors of Mountain Dew introduced. The latest one is the Mountain Dew Game Fuel Mango Heat. Debuted a few months ago, it is a mango-flavored soda drink.
7. Fanta (Brand Value: $3.3 billion)
With all of its fruity flavors, Fanta is sometimes mistaken as fruit-based beverage. If you don’t know the real fact by now, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but Fanta’s flavors are all artificial.
However, the creation of this fruit-flavored drink was actually started with using pomace of real fruit as its ingredient. Back to the age of World War II, Coca-Cola created Fanta from leftovers of apple and whey in Germany because they could not get Coca-Cola product into the country due to trade embargo.
After the war, Fanta was discontinued. But to compete with Pepsi’s new line of products, Coca-Cola relaunched Fanta in 1955. And today, it is the world’s 7th bestselling soda with $3.3 billion brand value.
There are more than ninety flavors of Fanta available in United States and worldwide. And the most popular ones would be the strawberry and orange flavors.
6. Sprite (Brand Value: $3.7 billion)
Another brand of soda from the Coca-Cola Company is up next with $3.7 billion brand value. Sprite’s unique refreshing flavor inspired other manufacturers to come up with similar taste. We have seen some of its competitors earlier on this list, such as 7 Up and Mountain Dew.
Following Fanta’s establishment in Germany, Sprite was actually developed as a variant of Fanta. It was first called Fanta Klare Zitrone or clear lemon Fanta. Only until it was introduced in United States to strengthen the Coca-Cola army against Pepsi’s new soldiers, it was renamed to Sprite.
To be frank, I didn’t know that Sprite has other flavors beside lemon-lime. Until the company launched the Sprite LeBron‘s Mix, which contains cherry and orange flavors in addition to Sprite’s original flavor.
Sprite did not just set a new trend in drinks, but also in language use. Thanks to Sprite’s advertisement, we got a new portmanteau word, “lymon”, which is the combination of “lime” and “lemon”.
5. Gatorade (Brand Value: $4 billion)
Like Monster, Gatorade is more commonly known as energy drink manufacturer. But Gatorade Thirst Quencher is actually just like any other soda drinks: carbonated flavored-water, only lower and close to none. It is just because Gatorade uses sport as its brand’s theme and adds a little bit of “healthy” twist into it, it is popularly known as sports drink.
Gatorade was first introduced in 1965. Today, it is sold in eighty countries worldwide. Its brand value has reached $4 billion, which is the fifth highest among other carbonated drink manufacturers in the world.
Gatorade Thirst Quencher comes in many variants of flavor. Most of them are refreshing flavor of fruits like lime, orange, cucumber, strawberry, and kiwi.
“The one and only. With a legacy over 40 years in the making, it’s the most scientifically researched and game-tested way to replace electrolytes lost in sweat. Gatorade Thirst Quencher hydrates better than water, which is why it’s trusted by some of the world’s best athletes.” – gatorade.com
4. Lipton (Brand Value: $4.1 billion)
This is another example of adding the word “sparkling” into your existing product and end up with a brand new one. Lipton the tea maker added the twist of soda into its iced tea product.
Lipton is one of the world’s leading and most expensive tea brands. It was first introduced more than a century ago, in 1890. Started as Lipton Yellow Label of tea bags, it extended its market to ready-to-drink beverage since the birth of Pepsi Lipton International company.
This company is a collaboration of Unilever and PepsiCo. And we know that the last one is responsible for at least half of the soda brands we have discussed so far. And so, Lipton’s soda journey began as the joint company emerged.
All of Lipton’s ready-to-drink products, including Lipton Sparkling Iced Tea, are sold by this joint company. And altogether, they contribute to Lipton’s $4.1 billion brand revenue.
3. Red Bull (Brand Value: $7.9 billion)
Red Bull is not just one of the world’s most popular drinks, but also most popular products in general. Sport fans would recognize its two-bull logo as it is featured in almost every sport events, such as Formula 1 and Bundesliga.
To this date, Red Bull energy drink is still the bestselling, most popular, and leading energy drink brand in the world. With this popularity, Red Bull took the chance to shift the soft drink market through its soda product, Red Bull Simply Cola, eight years ago.
Discontinued in United States, Red Bull Cola is only available in Austria and Germany today. However, through limited import, it is available in several other countries as well.
Red Bull has $7.9 billion of brand value today. That is 74th highest in the world overall, not just among beverage companies, but among all companies. And through its beverage products, Red Bull is making around $6.6 billion sales revenue a year.
2. Pepsi (Brand Value: $19.4 billion)
And the runner up for bestselling soda in the world goes to Pepsi.
Pepsi’s brand value, which is $19.4 billion, is the 29th highest in the world among other brands in general. And the company is making $11.8 billion of sales revenue a year.
With one of the world’s most expensive commercials, it should come as no surprise that PepsiCo spends around $2.4 billion annually on advertising. But with such whopping sales revenue, I would not complain.
Pepsi was first introduced more than a century ago, in 1893, as Brad’s Drink. Then, it went through several changes of name from PEPSI-Cola, to PEPSI, and finally Pepsi in 2008.
There are so many variants of Pepsi drinks, including Diet Pepsi the lower calorie version, Pepsi Blue the simply Pepsi in blue color, and other flavor versions such as lime, mojito, cherry vanilla, and peach.
1. Coca-Cola (Brand Value: $58.5 billion)
After all the Cola Wars and Pepsi Challenge, Coca-Cola remains the world’s most popular soft drink. Its brand value is three times bigger than its top competitor’s. Pepsi as the runner up has $19.4 brand value, yet Coca-Cola has staggering $58.5 billion.
Among other brands in the world, this is the 4th highest. It is only beaten by technology brands: Microsoft (3rd), Google (2nd), and Apple (1st). So, that puts Coca-Cola as the best brand not just in soda or soft drink market, but also food and beverage in general.
How much money is the Coca-Cola Company making every year? From its signature coke product, it is generating around $21.9 billion of sales revenue every year, which almost doubles Pepsi’s. But that number goes side by side with the advertising budget. Coca-Cola spends more than any other soda brands. In a year, $4 billion is spent on advertising the world-renowned cola.
130 years ago, Coca-Cola was first introduced. With so many variants, the original Coca-Cola and Diet Coke are two most popular soft drinks, not just from this company, but also in the world overall.
So, which one of these popular soft drinks are you going to get anytime soon?
