As we continue our look at the supermarket brands you can own, let us browse the beverages aisle. Let’s face it, Americans love their beverages. Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows that about 5% of what we spend at the grocery store on average is spent on non-alcoholic beverages. These include bottled water, soft drinks, fruit juices, bottled coffee and iced tea.
Having already explored the publicly traded brands in the condiments, snacks, frozen foods, household cleansers and produce aisles, which public companies have staked their claims in the massive beverage space? Here are a few:
PepsiCo, Inc. (Tii:PEP)
While Coke beats out Pepsi for the most popular cola brand, PepsiCo has higher revenue in general, with $67.16 billion in 2019 compared with Coca-Cola's $37.27 billion. Part of that edge may be due to bottled water. Over the years, bottled water has become the number one beverage in consumer shopping carts. The number two seller in this space is Aquafina, owned by PepsiCo, topping Coca-Cola’s Dasani.
The Coca-Cola Co. (Tii:KO)
Plenty of this company's iconic namesake cola gets consumed in U.S. households. But, like PepsiCo, the company is generating plenty of revenue from alternate beverages like bottled water. Popular drink brands owned by Coke include SmartWater, juice brand Minute Maid and sports beverage Powerade. This is part of what's driven the company’s 58th consecutive annual dividend increase, with quarterly payments going from $0.40 to $0.41 per share.
Keurig Dr Pepper, Inc. (Tii:KDP)
After the 2018 merger, Keurig and Dr Pepper Snapple combined forces for a truly impressive array of beverage options. Brands that you might not know are owned by this company include VitaCoco coconut water, Bai flavored drinks, A&W Root beer and many others. If you have a slightly off the beaten path favorite like RC Cola, IBC Root beer or Vernor's ginger soda, you are already a Keurig Dr Pepper fan.
The Unilever Group (Tii:UL)
With many people ditching soda, tea has become a popular alternative. On any given day, more than 159 million people in the U.S. quench their thirst with a cup of tea. And, in many cases, that tea is Lipton. Lipton offers both tea bags for hot tea and premade tea available in bottles and cans. Between bottled tea, instant tea, tea bags and loose tea, Lipton has 85 distinct offerings. Unilever has an impressive dividend yield of 3.59%.
The Kraft Heinz Company (Tii:KHC)
One of the many brands under the Kraft Heinz umbrella is Kool-Aid, the sugary drink that seems to mainly appeal to children under the age of 12. The powdered form of Kool-Aid was created by Edwin Perkins in 1927. Since then it has been a mainstay among children. While very few adults consume this beverage, over 563 gallons of the stuff are consumed every year. Revenue reports for the company’s second quarter of 2020 reflected strong net sales growth of 3.8 percent and organic net sales growth of 7.4 percent versus the same time last year, which was attributed to a strong retail performance.
With many items still on our shopping list, be sure to check back again for more supermarket brands you can own.