by James Bruckner, account manager, Taylor Nelson Sofres Superpanel Sales of juices and juice drinks have remained stable at £785m in the year ending February 4 2001, while volume has increased by 4% to reach just over 1bn litres. Over this period 91.5% of Great Britain's 24.2 million households bought the category at an average of almost twice a month. The category can be split into pure juices (55.7% of spend), juice drinks (23.1%) and one shot drinks (21.2%) which covers all small packs. Growth of 4% by both pure juices and one shots has been countered by a decline of 11% in juice drinks in a year that has seen Procter & Gamble's Sunny Delight become less dominant in the soft drinks market. Just over half of juice and juice drink sales are of own label products, well above average for packaged groceries. In terms of branded products, Sunny Delight has maintained a clear lead over its rivals, with Tropicana following as the largest pure juice brand. Ocean Spray cranberry juice drinks, and Del Monte pure juices come in third and fourth places. Orange is the most popular flavour by far, making up more than half of the category. Citrus, excluding plain orange, is the second biggest seller, followed by apple and then cranberry. A quarter of take-home juices and juice drinks were sold through Tesco last year, with a further 20.7% through Sainsbury. In total the big four multiples took 69% of category sales. Juice and juice drinks are the largest contributors to soft drinks grocery sales, and with dual placement in store for chilled and ambient products there are plenty of opportunities for category growth. Value Share UK market 52 w/e Feb 4 yr-on-yr 2001 growth Total juices & juice drinks £785m 0% One shot drinks 21.2% 4% Juice drinks 23.1% -11% Pure juices 55.7% 4% Volume Share UK market 52 w/e Feb 4 yr-on-yr 2001 growth Total juices & juice drinks 1, 034 million litres 4% One shot drinks 14.5% 9% Juice drinks 23% -6% Pure juices 62.5% 7% Source: Taylor Nelson Sofres Superpanel {{FOCUS SPECIALS }}