China's Drink Consumption to Increase 100% in Five YearsBy 2005, China's average personal consumption of drinks will have increased to 20 kilograms from the current 10 kilograms. At the same time, the volume of drink produced will increase at an annual rate of 14% and reach 27 million tons by the year 2005.According to statistics released at the National Food Industry Work Conference, China's beverage industry has seen a corresponding increase in production and consumption of drinks for many years. China's beverage industry has already witnessed a huge change from only one choice in carbonate drinks ten years ago to a variety of choices including carbonated drinks, bottled water and ten kinds of fruit juices. Currently, China's drinks manufacturers have the ability to produce 20 million tons of drinks annually. Experts point out that China's drinks market has a bright future. As the level of income increases, it will in all likelihood push up the consumption and production of drinks. Consumers' demand for natural, low-sugar health drinks will cause more new products to be introduced to the Chinese market. The traditional mainstream position of carbonated beverages has already been challenged with bottled water, tea and fruit juices becoming more popular. Analysts say that the Chinese consumption for newer drinks is still very low. The average Chinese consumes less than one kilogram of fruit juice while the average person in the rest of the world consumes seven kilograms of fruit juice. |
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