Drinks manufacturers see margins recover
UK drinks manufacturers have revealed that sales and efficiency gains have helped recover their margins and put them on a firm footing for 2026, according to new figures. db takes a look at what tactics they used to boost business during a tough 2025.
The data, which appears in the latest quarterly manufacturing report from inventory management specialist Unleashed, draws figures from more than 600 UK firms across manufacturing categories that include the food and drink sector among them. The news comes off the back of db identifying ways to secure strong margins within the UK drinks trade.
Sales rebounded
The findings also revealed how revenue from sales rebounded in the third quarter of 2025, with small and mid-sized firms generating an average of £360,085 – nearly a fifth more than the previous quarter. Added to this, profitability jumped by +0.9pp compared to the previous quarter, as lead times, purchasing volumes and stock on hand value all dropped. Plus, the data showed how lead times fell from 20 to 17 days (-15%), while purchase orders and stock on hand declined by -31% and -12.3% respectively.
Speaking about the comeback, Joe Llewellyn, general manager of enterprise resource planning for small business at The Access Group, the parent company of Unleashed, pointed out that alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks manufacturers had moved quickly to protect their margins.
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Stock flow tactics that protected margins
Llewellyn explained: “The last quarter was characterised by a determined push towards efficiency. Sales revenue was healthy, even if it didn’t reach the dizzy heights of the same period last year. But our data shows that purchasing and lead times were both down quarter on quarter, a sign of weakened demand reflected in the contracted purchasing managers index for this period. This, along with ongoing cost pressures, prompted drinks manufacturers to act. They’ve moved from cautious ‘just in case’ stock building in Q2 to a leaner ‘just in time’ approach, cutting their margins and stock on hand to protect their margins and cash flow.”
According to Llewellyn, looking ahead, operational excellence would be key to succeeding in a low-growth, high-cost environment and this is something that all drinks manufacturers will need to keep a close eye on when it comes to keeping their businesses as smooth-running as possible.
‘Doing more with less’
Llewellyn added: “Going into 2026, drinks manufacturers will need to make the most of data to enable forecast-driven replenishment, track landed costs in real-time, and identify and convert excess stock into cash. Doing more with less is the new reality, seen in the continued trend in industrial automation.”
Looking more closely at Unleashed’s report, it was also apparent that if assessing and comparing performance across different manufacturing categories, that drinks manufacturers’ performance was consistent with the wider industry. This, it outlined, was crucial because the results shows how resilient the category remains to be, even amid myriad challenges and setbacks throughout a tough year.
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