????軟飲料銷售連續九年下滑。這個現象遠遠超過了趨勢的范疇，而是消費者口味的根本性轉變，無論汽水生產商的產品組合是多么地多樣化，這個轉變都對他們提出了一個重大的挑戰。

????最新的數據觸目驚心，但并不出人意料。《飲料文摘》（Beverage Digest）上周一發表的報告顯示，2013年汽水銷量下跌了3%，創下1995年以來新低。無論怎么看這都是很大的跌幅，幅度比2012年跌幅高出一倍多。人們正在加速遠離汽水。

????值此之際，在評判可口可樂（Coca-Cola）和百事可樂（Pepsico）這樣的公司時，不能看他們能否復興各自的旗艦品牌，而是看他們在應對那些品牌的衰退方面表現如何。當然，這對于那些靠汽水品牌揚名立萬的公司而言不是個好消息，所以他們仍然在拼命地試圖找到至少可以止損的辦法，同時明智地繼續投資于其他產品，例如能量飲料、運動飲料和加味水。

????百事可樂嘗試了很多辦法，包括新的百事可樂瓶裝設計和與碧昂斯簽訂的5,000萬美元代言合同。可口可樂聘請服裝設計師馬克?雅各布擔任“創意總監”。但銷售仍然在繼續下滑。

????被寄予厚望的救星（添加人工甜味劑的減肥飲料）沒有起到作用。幾年前，減肥汽水的銷售下滑速度與加糖汽水相同，但如今下滑得更快，因為消費者繼續聽到健康方面的擔憂。3月31日發表的一項研究顯示，減肥汽水會增加老年婦女患上心血管疾病的風險。

????但健康擔憂不是唯一的問題。如果它們是唯一的問題，那么能量飲料、運動飲料、咖啡飲料和加味水不可能趁虛而入。但事實上它們填補了缺口。這種情況進一步表明，汽水陷入困境的原因在于可選飲料種類的激增，尤其是以年輕人為目標客戶的飲料。越來越多的年輕人認為，可口可樂、胡椒博士（Dr. Pepper）、雪碧（Sprite）和百事可樂（盡管請了碧昂斯代言）是他們的祖父母在很久以前喝的東西。（財富中文網）

????譯者：千牛絮

????

????Soft-drink sales have been declining for nine straight years. This is much more than a trend -- it's a fundamental shift in consumer tastes that poses a major problem for soda makers, no matter how diversified their product portfolios might be.

????The latest numbers are astonishing, but not surprising. Sales of soda fell 3% by volume in 2013, to the lowest levels since 1995, according to a report from Beverage Digest issued on Monday. That would be a big drop no matter what, but it's also more than double 2012's decline. People are moving away from soda at an accelerating rate.

????At this point, companies like Coca-Cola (KO) and Pepsico (PEP) must be judged not on what they're doing to save their flagship brands, but on how well they're managing those brands' decline. Of course that's not easy for companies that are named for those very brands, so they're still going nuts trying to figure out how to at least staunch the losses, even as they wisely continue to invest in alternatives like energy drinks, sports drinks, and flavored water.

????Among many other initiatives, Pepsico tried a new bottle design for Pepsi, and it signed Beyoncé to a $50 million endorsement deal. Coke hired clothier Marc Jacobs as its "creative director." Sales have continued to plummet.

????And the hoped-for savior of the business -- diet drinks with artificial sweeteners -- are no help. Up until a few years ago, sales of diet sodas were falling at about the same rate as the sugar-filled ones. Now they're actually falling faster as consumers continue to hear about health concerns. Just yesterday, a study was released indicating that consumption of diet soda can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease in older women.

????But health concerns are not the only problem. If they were, it would seem unlikely that energy drinks, sports beverages, coffee-based beverages, and flavored waters would be taking up the slack. But they are. That's a further indication that what's doing soda in is the proliferation of choices in the beverage aisle, especially those aimed at young people, an increasing number of whom think of Coke, Dr. Pepper, Sprite, and Pepsi -- Beyoncé notwithstanding -- as the stuff their grandparents drank in the olden days.