Who are today's top 10 soft drinks companies in the UK? How have they changed? And how are they likely to change in the future? Richard Hall reports There's been tremendous change in the UK soft drinks sector in the past decade. Many companies have been on the acquisition trail, making the common themes since 1990 the need for greater scale to reduce costs, improve service and innovate. The merits of an international presence are also becoming more important. Just two of today's top 10 UK soft drinks companies have exactly the same operating name as they had at the beginning of 1990. Four of the 1990 top 10 have disappeared. Two of the 2000 top 10 are new creations of the 1990s. Many of the other differences in company names and ownership are much more subtle, but they often also reflect fundamental shifts in direction. Coca-Cola Enterprises is overall number one, selling more than twice the volume of its nearest rival. It is part of Coca-Cola's biggest anchor bottler, which also stretches across Benelux and France as well as much of the United States. The name was adopted only in March 2000 as the last piece in the jigsaw after Cadbury Schweppes' sold its UK soft drinks interests in 1997. Leading brands need a leading distribution network and Cadbury Schweppes was not strong enough to go it alone, while Coca-Cola needed to transfer best practice across markets. Britvic Soft Drinks is the long-term number two, with the same ownership and name as in 1990. Bass has management control, with Allied Domecq, Whitbread and PepsiCo holding minority positions. Britvic's shareholders are known to have examined various possible ownership changes, particularly as a result of the brewers selling off their beer production facilities. In the meantime, Britvic has been an important buyer, taking on the Robinsons squash brand in 1995 and enlarging its adult soft drinks portfolio to include Amé, Aqua Libra and Purdey's in July 2000. The next five players show how far own label soft drinks have developed since 1990. At number three, Princes Soft Drinks did not come into the market until 1991 when it acquired the ailing Barraclough. Since then Princes has made five major purchases, including the former Co-op operations, Waterford Juices and in February 2000 Wells' dilutables. Number four, Cott Beverages, sprang to life in 1993 as the driving force behind US style colas. Subsequently it bought up the carbonates activities of Ben Shaws, Carters/Hero and Crystal Drinks, the last of which was then divested in 1999. Number five is Gerber Foods Soft Drinks the leader in own label fruit juice throughout the 1990s. Three elements of Gerber's strategy have been similar to others ­ internal growth, UK acquisition and product diversification. Gerber has been able to attract a series of high profile brand licences such as Libby's, Ocean Spray and Sunny Delight. It has also expanded abroad, purchasing Germany's Emig juice business in February 2001. This made Gerber Europe's largest fruit juice producer, enabling savings on procurement costs and greater service support for Europe's leading retailers. Number six was only formed in 1990 and may still be unknown to most grocers as it specialises in own label carbonates for the major multiples. Macaw (Soft Drinks) has, however, developed a highly efficient, flexible, innovative and profitable operation in northern England, racing ahead of many more established names. The Silver Spring Mineral Water Co is ranked number seven with more own label carbonates and its flagship Perfectly Clear brand, which leads the clear drinks segment. Both Macaw and Silver Spring are private family owned businesses which have relied on internally driven growth for their progress. Close behind come three big brand owners. Lucozade and Ribena became part of the newly merged GlaxoSmithKline in December 2000. Irn-Bru and Tizer have remained with Barr Soft Drinks throughout the 1990s, which also saw the addition of Orangina. Finally, the last of the top 10 is the first entry by a bottled water company, which also gained a new name in January 2001 ­ Danone Waters (UK & Ireland). Danone owns the Evian and Volvic brands and has made two UK based production acquisitions in the past 12 months ­ Benham and Chiltern Hills. - Richard Hall is chairman of Europe's leading drinks consultancy Zenith International {{FOCUS SPECIALS }}