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Beverage News

Top 100 Beverage Companies of 2018

AB InBev holds the No. 1 spot for the second year in a row

Top 100 Beverage Companies of 2018 - Beverage Industry
June 10, 2019

The companies on Beverage Industry’s Top 100 Beverage Companies of 2018 all are dedicated to giving consumers the best experience possible, whether it be through new product development or eye-catching packaging. The editor’s invite you to take a closer look at the top global beverage brands, top cap ex spenders, top social media brands and much more.

Top 100 Beverage Companies - Beverage Industry

• View the 2018 Top 100 List

• Read previous years' reports

Top beverage brands

Coca-Cola maintained its spot as the No. 1 beverage brand on the U.K.'s BrandFinance Global 500 list for 2018 with a value of $30 million. Chinese spirit company Moutai climbed the ranks into the No. 2 spot, knocking Pepsi down one spot to No. 3. Other Chinese spirits brand's Wuliangye and Yanghe made their way onto this year's Top 10 list, claiming spots No. 4 and 5, respectively. As a result, the rest of the regulars on the Top 10 list were knocked down an average of two spots. Nescafé rounded out this year at No. 10, resulting in Johnnie Walker being knocked out of the Top 10 completely.

(Brand value, U.S. $ millions)

Coca-Cola 30,378
Moutai 21,243
Pepsi 20,035
Wuliangye 14,635
Yanghe 7,795
Red Bull 7,641
Bud Light 7,377
Budweiser 7,082
Heineken 6,090
Nescafé 5,316

Source: BrandFinance Global 500, 2018

Top 10 beverage Facebook pages

After years of seeing beverage brand pages rake in the fans, it seems that the market has hit maturation. Generally speaking, most brand pages held steady or even declined slightly with the number of followers compared with 2018.

(By number of fans)

Coca-Cola 107,461,380
Red Bull 48,936,014
Pepsi 37,838,014
Starbucks 36,934,939
Monster Energy 26,220,129
Heineken 24,755,147
Sprite 22,792,405
Fanta 19,671,182
Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey 17,171,064
Dunkin' 15,623,948

Source: Search conducted May 21, according to fanpagelist.com and individual page visits.

Top cap ex spenders

Beverage companies continued to invest in their operations in 2018. This year's top spenders mostly maintained their positions within the Top 10. Anheuser-Busch, Nestlé SA and Davide Campari held their spots as No. 1, 2 and 3, respectively, for the second year in a row. Six other brands also maintained their positions in the Top 10, with expection to Constellation Brands. Constellation Brands found its way on the Top 10 chart this year, coming in as the No. 9 top capital spender.

(Public companies, U.S. $ millions)

Anheuser- Busch InBev 4,649
Nestlé SA* 3,869
Davide Campari 3,760
PepsiCo Inc. 3,282
Heineken N.V. 2,124
Unilever Group* 1,856
The Coca-Cola Co. 1,347
Starbucks Corp. 1,976
Constellation Brands 1,058
Danone Group 1,057

*Includes cap ex spending against non-beverage products

Top 100 by location

When it comes to top beverage headquarter locations, California remains the champion once again. With 16, the Golden State is unchanged from last year. However, the bottom states experienced a shake-up as Florida and Massachusetts enter the fray.

California 16
New York 9
Illinois 6
Florida 5
Washington 5
Canada 4
Colorado 4
Massachusetts 4

Number of employees

Maintaining a strong team is crucial for beverage companies looking to succeed on a day-to-day basis. Although the actual number of employees fluctuated in 2018, each company's position on the Top 10 chart remained consistant with the previous year. Nestlé SA remains No. 1 with a total of 308,000 employees in its 190 markets around the world. Although a much smaller market number (75), Starbucks maintained its position at No. 2, with 291,000 employees. PepsiCo, Anheuser-Busch and Unilever Group rounded out the Top 5 with employee numbers of 267,000, 175,000 and 155,000, respectively.

Nestlé SA* 308,000
Starbucks Corp. 291,000
PepsiCo Inc. 267,000
Anheuser-Busch InBev 175,000
Unilever Group* 155,000
LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton* 136,633
Danone Group 100,000
Heineken N.V. 85,610
The Coca-Cola Co. 62,600
Diageo PLC 30,000

Source: Reported and publicly available estimates of numbers of employees
*Includes employees in non-beverage divisions

Top 100 by category

Juices continue to dominate the product mix for the annual Top 100 list; however, merger and aqusitions did impact the number populating this beverage category.

(Number of the Top 100 companies that produce)

Juice and juice drinks 33
Wine 25
Beer 22
Tea and RTD tea 20
Water 19
Spirits 17
Coffee and RTD coffee 15
Soft drinks 14
Energy drinks and shots 13
Sports and protein drinks and shots 11
Dairy-based drinks and alternatives 8
Flavored malt beverages 7
Beverage mixes 6
Liquid concentrates 6
Hard cider 5

* Beverage Industry estimate
† All operating units, including non-beverages
§ Refreshments and ice cream
^ Bottled water only
§§ Americas Simple Meals and Beverages
^^ Glanbia Performance Nutrition division
†† Grocery Division
††† Flavored malt beverages only
^^^Tea only
§§§ Abbott Nutritionals only

Beverage Industry's Top 100 List is based on worldwide sales for U.S. companies and foreign-held companies that have signifi cant sales in the United States. Figures represent published sales for public companies, voluntarily disclosed sales from private companies, and estimates based on industry sources and publicly available business reporting sources.

Top 100 Beverage Companies - Beverage Industry

• View the 2018 Top 100 List

• Read previous years' reports

KEYWORDS: beverage sales business management mergers and acquisitions Top 100 beverage companies

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