Virgin Cola’s share down, says Nielsen

Virgin Cola’s volume share of cola sales in UK stores fell from 4.6 to 3.3 per cent from March to May, according to AC Nielsen’s retail tracking system Insight.

Virgin Cola’s volume share of cola sales in UK stores fell

from 4.6 to 3.3 per cent from March to May, according to

AC Nielsen’s retail tracking system Insight.

And Nielsen Homescan – a panel indicator survey based on 10,000 individuals – shows Virgin’s UK market share has fallen from 9.7 in March to 7.5 per cent in April.

James Kydd, Virgin Trading Company’s marketing director, dismisses the 3.3 per cent share figure as: “completely and utterly incomprehensible”.

“Even if the figures were drawn just from Tesco, and no- where else, we would have something like a five or six per cent national share,” he claims.

Recently, Virgin stated in press releases that it held ten per cent of the take-home market in March.

According to the Insight figures, Pepsi Cola’s share grew from 18.6 per cent in March to 20.5 per cent in May following the Pepsi Challenge. And Coca-Cola dropped from 48.3 per cent in March to 46 per cent in May.

But a Coca-Cola spokeswoman points out the Nielsen data does not show figures for other sales outlets. “The soft drinks market extends beyond supermarkets, to pubs, clubs, restaurants, garages and vending machines,” she says.