Convenience retailers should focus on cola, water and energy drinks to add £8bn to soft drink sales by 2020.

That was the advice from Red Bull at the company’s category summit earlier this month.

The company used Mintel, Canadean and Euromonitor projections to show sports and energy will grow £105m, water by £278m and cola by £82m.

Soft drinks sales have risen 6.3% over the past six years, with projections suggesting growth of 6.4% to £8.1bn over the next three years.

Although new products play an important role in driving interest in the category, 9.6% of all soft drink products make up 80% of the sales.

There have been more than 2,000 products launched in the past three years, but only three are in the top 16.

Speaking at the summit, Ken Hughes, CEO of Glacier Consulting, which specialises in shopper behaviour and eye tracking, said the perfect planogram is only the start, you need your products in the right place to drive sales.

“Forty-five per cent of convenience shoppers only buy one item and leave, 30% buy two items. Routing is the enemy of growth,” he added.

Red Bull has also launched a new limited-edition Kiwi-Apple flavour for summer, which is available in £1.19 price-marked 250ml cans.

Richard Fisher, category development manager for Red Bull, said: “There is a clear pathway to evolution led by Coca-Cola.

“Have a core product, launch multipacks and different sizes, then move to diet, then move to flavours.”