The second article in YouGov’s Sip stars: UK non-alcoholic beverage rankings 2026 series looks at how Consideration varies across Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X and Baby Boomers+ using YouGov BrandIndex data.
Overall rankings can mask important generational differences, with brands performing strongly among some age groups but ranking lower among others.
In this article, we cover how the most considered non-alcoholic beverage brands perform across generations, including the top 10 beverage brands among Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X and Baby Boomers+.
How the UK's most considered non-alcoholic beverage brands perform across each generation
Looking at the top 25 soft drink brands based on Consideration among all UK adults, we see some notable shifts across each generation.
Robinsons leads the overall UK adult Consideration ranking and also ranks first among Millennials, Gen X and Baby Boomers+ in the generation-specific top 10s, but it ranks seventh among Gen Z. Ribena ranks second overall and remains prominent across generations, placing fifth among Gen Z, third among Millennials, fourth among Gen X and fifth among Baby Boomers+.
San Pellegrino ranks third overall and performs especially strongly with Millennials, Gen X and Baby Boomers+, but it does not appear in the Gen Z top 10. Coca-Cola shows the opposite pattern in the displayed data, leading Gen Z at 31.3% while scoring 13.4% among Baby Boomers+.
The top 10 non-alcoholic beverage brands among Gen Z in the UK
Coca-Cola leads with Gen Z, with 31.3% saying they would consider the brand when next in the market for drinks. Pepsi Max follows closely at 30.4%, while Coca-Cola Zero ranks third at 27.9%.
Diet Coke also performs strongly with Gen Z, at 25.6%, followed by Ribena at 24.9%, Fanta at 24.7% and Robinsons at 24.3%. Vimto records 23.5%, while innocent and Sprite complete the top 10 at 19.3% and 18.5%, respectively. This shows that carbonated drinks top the ranking for younger audiences.
Several of the strongest Gen Z brands rank lower among Baby Boomers+. Coca-Cola falls from 31.3% among Gen Z to 13.4% among Baby Boomers+, while Fanta moves from 24.7% to 11.4%. Coca-Cola Zero shows a similar pattern, with Consideration at 27.9% among Gen Z compared with 14.0% among Baby Boomers+.
The top 10 non-alcoholic beverage brands among Millennials in the UK
Robinsons ranks first among Millennials, with 30.7% considering purchasing the brand. Pepsi Max and Ribena follow closely, both at 30.2%, while Coca-Cola records 29.7%.
The rest of the top 10 includes innocent at 25.9%, San Pellegrino at 25.7% and Coca-Cola Zero at 25.4%. Fanta records 24.9%, followed by Tropicana at 22.1% and Highland Spring at 21.8%.
The top 10 non-alcoholic beverage brands among Gen X in the UK
Robinsons has a clearer lead among Gen X, with 33.6% considering purchasing the brand. Pepsi Max ranks second at 29.7%, followed closely by San Pellegrino at 28.9% and Ribena at 28.8%.
Highland Spring and Coca-Cola Zero are next, at 25.7% and 25.6% respectively. innocent records 23.6%, while Evian stands at 23.3%. Fanta and Coca-Cola complete the top 10, at 22.2% and 21.9%.
The top 10 non-alcoholic beverage brands among Baby Boomers+ in the UK
Baby Boomers+ show a distinct ranking, with Robinsons at the top at 34.6%. Fever-Tree follows at 29.6%, ahead of San Pellegrino at 27.9% and Highland Spring at 27.6%.
Ribena ranks fifth among Baby Boomers+ at 21.7%, followed by Buxton at 21.4% and Schweppes at 21.1%. Evian, Diet Coke and Pepsi Max complete the top 10.
Fever-Tree shows one of the clearest generational differences, with Consideration rising from 8.0% among Gen Z to 29.6% among Baby Boomers+. Highland Spring also records higher Consideration among Baby Boomers+ than Gen Z, at 27.6% compared with 16.1%.
Schweppes follows a similar pattern, with a score of 21.1% among Baby Boomers+ and 7.8% among Gen Z. These differences show how the age profile of non-alcoholic beverage Consideration can vary substantially by brand. YouGov BrandIndex can be used to compare these differences across additional audiences, competitor sets and brand health measures.
Explore more data for the beverage sector
This generational ranking is one view of the broader beverage sector data available in YouGov BrandIndex. Additional analysis can compare beverage brands across Consideration, Purchase Intent, Awareness, Value, Quality and other relevant measures, as well as across audiences and time periods.
Request a beverage brand briefing to explore how your brand and competitors perform across the measures and audiences that matter most.
Methodology
This article uses YouGov BrandIndex UK data collected from 1 August 2025 to 31 July 2026 among UK adults. The generational analysis compares Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X and Baby Boomers+.
Consideration is the percentage of respondents who would consider purchasing a brand when next in the market for drinks. Figures are shown as percentages and rounded to one decimal place.
Brand variants and product-line brands are shown separately where they are tracked separately in YouGov BrandIndex.
Disclosure: The data analysis in this article was conducted by YouGov with the assistance of AI tools.
About YouGov BrandIndex
YouGov BrandIndex is an always-on brand tracking solution that measures consumer perceptions of thousands of brands every day. It helps marketers monitor brand health over time, benchmark performance against competitors, identify audience-specific strengths and weaknesses, and understand how consumer perceptions change.