Diet Coke has lost its second spot of the most popular soda brands by volume in the United States. The new occupant in that spot is Pepsi, according to a Beverage Digest report.
Pepsi and Coca Cola are arch-rivals in the soft drinks industry.
The number one spot is, however, still occupied by Coca Cola's renowned soft drink Coke. Mountain Dew occupies the third position.
The report shows that the demand for colas is decreasing in the US. This shift can be attributed to the demand of real and healthier ingredients.
Diet Coke, Diet Pepsi and Diet Mt. Dew lost 6.6, 5.2 and 3.2 percent shares respectively in terms of volume over the last year.
The soda industry as a whole must revive their efforts to regain the lost volume. The industry lost 0.9 percent share in sales in 2014.
In 2013, the soda industry lost about 3 percent.
On the other end of the big picture, however, Fanta, Sprite and Coke saw an increase in volume, by 5.0, 1.0 and 0.1 percent respectively to be exact, according to Guru Focus.
Beverage Digest report shows that sales volume of the beverage industry as a whole, including non-carbonated beverages and water, increased 1.7 percent in 2014.
Monster Beverage Corporation and Red Bull, the relatively smaller players, increased their market-share. This helped the entire beverages industry see a gain.
The choice of the people is now in energy drinks, tea juices and flavored waters. Sweetened beverages are losing ground faster than expected, reported Nasdaq.
Coca-Cola has a portfolio if 20 brands that each generate over $1 billion annual sales; all of these brands are in the beverage industry.
PepsiCo has 14 beverage and 8 snack brands that generate $1 billion each year in average.
Meanwhile, in terms of investment, Pepsi is a better alternative. Pepsi has the Frito Lay snacks division that helps it stay ahead of Coca Cola.
However, both of the two most popular soft drink brands must stick to innovation if they want to increase sales volumes without being interrupted by consumer demands.
New products have been continually brought into the market by both brands. That, however, has not helped these giants to grow as much as the smaller ones, such as Monster and Red Bull.
Still, both Coca Cola and PepsiCo are huge global brands.