Icy beverages such as Slurpees and Slushies are among the few cold beverages to have gained popularity in the last couple of years, according to the latest findings from Roy Morgan Research.
Between January 2013 and December 2015, the proportion of survey respondents consuming frozen drinks in Australia in an average seven days grew from 2.2 per cent to 3.3 per cent. While this is just a fraction of the proportion of surveyed Australians who consume carbonated soft drinks (47.6 per cent, down from 49.2 per cent) or fruit juice (26.5 per cent, down from 28.5 per cent), it is the only one of the three to have increased its consumers during this time.
Younger consumers are much more likely than older ones to choose frozen drinks such as Slurpees and Slushies. In fact, almost three-quarters of survey respondents who consume this kind of beverage are aged under 35, compared with 40 per cent of soft-drink consumers and 40.8 per cent of fruit juice drinkers surveyed.
“While frozen drinks are nowhere near as widely consumed as carbonated soft drinks or fruit juices, our data indicates that their popularity is rising,” Roy Morgan Research General Manager – Consumer Products Andrew Price said.
“With their low cost, sweet taste and bright colours, it is not surprising that these beverages are especially popular with younger Aussies.”
Mr Price says although frozen drinks are a niche beverage, their growing popularity is certainly worth monitoring, especially as consumption of soft drinks and fruit juices declines.
“In fact, soft drink and fruit juice brands would benefit from gaining an in-depth understanding of who drinks frozen beverages so they can maximise any crossover potential,” he said. “Meanwhile, frozen drink brands wishing to grow their market also stand to do so more successfully if they can pinpoint exactly who they wish to target and how best to reach them.”
