Functional health drinks have risen to the top spot in convenience store beverage sales, surpassing coffee and soft drinks.
On the 1st, based on an analysis of yearly beverage category sales trends by convenience store CU, the sales share of functional health drinks increased from 16.9% in 2021, 18.0% in 2022, and 18.8% in 2023 to 22.1% last year, marking the first time it surpassed coffee.
Functional health drinks also account for 22.5% this year (January to March), continuing their growth trend. While absolute sales of other beverages like coffee (18.8%), milk (14.7%), and soft drinks (15.7%) increased each year, the growth rate of functional health drinks has been relatively higher.
The sales growth rate of functional health drinks compared to the previous year at CU is 52.2% in 2022, 27.3% in 2023, 22.1% in 2024, and 17.2% for the first three months of 2025, maintaining a double-digit growth trend.
CU noted that as consumer interest in health has increased recently, many are now looking for drinks such as red ginseng beverages, vitamins, protein drinks, and sports ionic drinks that can be consumed while exercising, instead of coffee or soft drinks that contain sugar and caffeine.
In response, CU is actively expanding its lineup of functional drinks in collaboration with specialized pharmaceutical companies. This month, they will focus on promoting sports ionic drinks.
They are launching the pouch sports drink "Real Amino Water Red Beet Plus" in collaboration with KOLON and introducing the pouch version of Kwangdong Pharmaceutical's popular vitamin drink "Vita 500" as "Vita 500 Ion Plus."
A representative from BGF Retail said, "The convenience store beverage market is being reshaped around 'health', and we are actively responding to the trend by expanding our related beverage lineup," adding, "We expect health drinks to continue to grow in the future, so we will consistently introduce differentiated products related to this trend."