Top 10 Most Popular Soft Drinks (Sodas)

What are the top-selling soft drinks in the USA?

The carbonated soft drink (CSD) market is dominated by three players: Coca Cola Company, PepsiCo, and Keurig Dr Pepper. Each company markets a large number of brands, with Coca Cola Company having the larger market share.

This is reflected in drink sales with Coca-cola Classic continuing to outsell Pepsi.

Top 10 Soft Drinks

1. Coca-Cola
2. Pepsi
3. Diet Coke
4. Dr Pepper
5. Mountain Dew
6. Sprite
7. Diet Pepsi
8. Coke Zero
9. Fanta
10. Diet Mountain Dew

The overall Carbonated Soft Drink market has been in decline for years (and continues to decline into 2021). While sales in dollars have held up, volumes keep dropping as consumers look to functional beverages, and low-calorie alternatives.

Most Soft Drinks Are Caffeinated

Only two of the drinks in the top 10 are caffeine-free (Sprite and Fanta). While caffeine levels are modest, some of the diet drinks have more caffeine than expected.

Who Owns Each Brand or Soft Drink?

The beverage industry is bewilderingly complex. Globally the entire carbonated beverage market size is valued at USD 406 Billion.

Different companies market a multitude of brands, and even have licensing agreements to supply other brands in different markets.

However the big players look like this:

Coca Cola Company

The company offers more than 500 brands in more than 200 countries.

• Coca-cola
• Sprite
• Fanta
• Powerade
• Also Minute Maid, Glaceau, Barq’s, Fresca, Appletiser, and many more.

PepsiCo

PepsiCo has a number of food brands (Frito-Lay: Doritos, Fritos) as well as a large number of drink brands.  Some are surprising (for example, Sodastream belongs to PepsiCo.  Rockstar energy drinks were acquired by PepsiCo in 2020).

As already stated – the industry is confusing: PepsiCo has the rights to 7 Up outside North America, but it’s Keurig Dr Pepper who sell 7 Up inside the USA !

• Pepsi
• Mountain Dew
• 7 Up (outside US)
• Gatorade
• Also Starbucks RTDs, Lipton, Soda Stream

Keurig Dr Pepper

What was Cadbury Schweppes, then became Dr Pepper Snapple Group. Which was then acquired by Keurig Green Mountain… which became Keurig Dr Pepper.

• Dr Pepper
• 7 Up (inside US)
• Sunkist, Sun Drop, Schweppes, A&W, RC Cola.

Top Beverage Brands in the World in 2021

These brands are ordered by estimated brand value, and give a good indication of soft drink popularity. Note that beverage companies may own many different brands, which can even vary between regions.

1. Coca-Cola
2. Pepsi
3. Red Bull
4. Nescafé
5. Monster
6. Sprite
7. Monster
8. Gatorade
9. Dr Pepper
10. Mountain Dew
11. Lipton
12. Fanta
13. 7-Up
14. Tropicana
15. Lavazza
16. Twinings

It’s important to note that many of the brands listed in the table above are subsidiaries of major brands like Coca-Cola and PepsiCo.