What do Canadians reach for when they want a refreshing drink? Our latest survey asked readers “What are your favourite soft drink brands?” and the results reveal an extremely close race between several familiar choices.
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More than 1,680 votes were recorded, with Water, Canada Dry, Coca-Cola and Pepsi dominating the results.
Water Takes First Place – Interestingly, the most popular choice wasn’t a soft drink brand at all. Water finished first with 19.19% of the vote, receiving 323 votes.
Its inclusion gives us an interesting comparison: even when Canadians are presented with well-known soft drink brands, a significant number still prefer something simple and unsweetened. However, the margin separating water from the leading soft drink brands was surprisingly small.
Canada Dry Is Canada’s Favourite Soft Drink Brand – If we exclude water and look strictly at branded soft drinks, Canada Dry comes out on top. Canada Dry received 310 votes, or 18.42% of the total, finishing only 13 votes behind water. Canada Dry is strongly associated with ginger ale and has a long history in Canada, having originated in Toronto more than a century ago.
Its narrow victory over two of the world’s biggest cola brands suggests that ginger ale remains a particularly popular choice among our Canadian respondents.
Coca-Cola vs. Pepsi: An Extremely Close Contest – The famous Coca-Cola versus Pepsi rivalry was also remarkably close. Coca-Cola finished third overall with 302 votes (17.95%), while Pepsi received 288 votes (17.11%). That is a difference of only 14 votes.
Combined, Coca-Cola and Pepsi accounted for more than one-third of all votes in the survey, showing that traditional cola remains a major favourite among respondents. But neither brand managed to beat Canada Dry.
A&W Takes a Clear Fifth Place – After the four leaders, there is a substantial drop to A&W, which received 120 votes, representing 7.13% of the total. Still, A&W comfortably finished ahead of the remaining named brands.
Another 90 votes, or 5.35%, went to “Other,” suggesting that Canadians also enjoy plenty of brands and beverages that weren’t included among the main survey choices.
Dr Pepper – Among the smaller choices, Dr Pepper performed best, receiving 69 votes (4.10%).
It was followed closely by two lemon-lime favourites: Sprite with 62 votes (3.68%) and 7 Up with 58 votes (3.45%).
At the bottom of our ranking were Fanta, with 31 votes (1.84%), and Mountain Dew, with 30 votes (1.78%).
What’s Your Favourite?
Are you surprised that Canada Dry finished ahead of Coca-Cola and Pepsi? Or that water received more votes than any individual soft drink brand?
The results reflect the preferences of people who participated in our online survey and should not be considered representative of the entire Canadian population.
What’s your favourite soft drink? Let us know if your go-to brand made the list or
take part in our other survey: What’s Your Favourite Burger in Canada?
The overall ranking tells an interesting story:
Water – 19.19%
Canada Dry – 18.42%
Coca-Cola – 17.95%
Pepsi – 17.11%
A&W – 7.13%
Other – 5.35%
Dr Pepper – 4.10%
Sprite – 3.68%
7 Up – 3.45%
Fanta – 1.84%
Mountain Dew – 1.78%
Perhaps the most striking finding is how concentrated the results are at the top. Water, Canada Dry, Coca-Cola and Pepsi together received 1,223 votes, accounting for approximately 72.7% of all votes cast.
At the same time, there was no runaway winner. Each of the top four choices received between 17% and 20% of the vote. Only 35 votes separate Canada Dry, Coca-Cola and Pepsi, while just 21 votes separate Canada Dry from Pepsi.