 |
© 2008 American Beverage Association. All Rights Reserved
|
 |
     |
|
|
||||
|
|
What America DrinksOur Favorite BeveragesThere may be no such thing as an average American, but for statistical sake, let’s say there is. That person, like any person, needs liquid, wants liquid and drinks liquid. How much are we drinking?According to Beverage Marketing Corporation, every man, woman and child in the United States ingests 192 gallons of liquid a year. That translates to about 3.7 gallons per week or 2 liters a day. That may sound like a lot. But what’s really a lot is how many different beverage products are comprised in that total. What America is drinking, in short, is everything…everything from tea to Tab to tap water. The diverse tastes Americans demonstrate are reflected in the beverage drink choices they demand, the beverage product choices made available by America ’s beverage producers. About 13 percent of all beverages consumed are alcoholic. Of the remaining, non-alcoholic 87 percent , the most popular continues to be carbonated soft drinks (CSDs), which account for 28 percent of the overall total. Their share is more than twice that of the next-closest non-alcoholic beverage, milk. However, in the past five years CSDs’ share has slipped slightly, while bottled waters' share has risen by almost half. Nearly as widely consumed as bottled water are milk and coffee, followed by fruit beverages and tea. About 12 percent of the total beverages consumed are made by what Beverage Marketing Corporation defines as “all other,” comprised most prominently of sports drinks, vegetable juice, powdered drinks and, yes, tap water. Total U.S. Beverage Consumption 2005
* Includes fruit beverages and fruit drinks; excludes powdered fruit drinks and vegetable juices. ** All Others includes tap water, vegetable juice, powders and miscellaneous drinks. SOURCE: Beverage Marketing Corporation |
|||