US Refreshment Beverages propel Keurig Dr Pepper

BURLINGTON, MASS. — Volume growth has been hard to come by for many consumer packaged goods businesses, but not Keurig Dr Pepper. The company’s US Refreshment Beverages business unit saw its volume/mix during fiscal 2025 surge 9%, supported by the acquisition of Ghost and market share gains in carbonated beverages and energy drinks.  

“On a segment basis, US Refreshment Beverages was the standout performer, delivering double-digit net sales growth and high single-digit operating income growth,” said Timothy Cofer, chief executive officer, during a Feb. 24 conference call to discuss fiscal 2025 results.

Keurig Dr Pepper acquired the Ghost business in late 2024 for approximately $990 million.

“We seamlessly integrated Ghost and successfully transitioned it to our DSD network, accelerating the brand’s market share as we expanded distribution and display while maintaining high on-shelf productivity,” Cofer said.

Further supporting the growth of the US Refreshment Beverages business was the performance of the Dr Pepper portfolio and other energy beverages like C4 and Bloom.

US Refreshment Beverages sales surged 12% to $10.4 billion from $9.3 billion the year before, and business unit operating income also rose sharply to $2.9 billion from $1.8 billion in fiscal 2024.

And the outlook in fiscal 2027 is bright, said Anthony DiSilvestro, chief financial officer.

“Looking ahead with continued momentum in both our core and quickly scaling growth platforms, we expect US Refreshment Beverages to deliver another year of strong top- and bottom-line growth in 2026,” he said. “However, it is worth noting that our innovation cadence differs slightly from last year. Most notably, our Dr Pepper Creamy Coconut LTO will launch in Q2, which compares to the Dr Pepper Blackberry line extension that launched in Q1 2025. This timing difference could impact Dr Pepper’s market share comparisons early in the year, but we expect good full-year performance.”

Keurig Dr Pepper is guiding that US Coffee will remain under pressure from cost headwinds.

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For the year ended Dec. 31, 2025, Keurig Dr Pepper earned $2 billion, equal to $1.53 per share on the common stock, up 42% from fiscal 2024 when the company earned $1.4 billion, or $1.06 per share.

Annual sales rose 8% to $16.6 billion from $15.4 billion the year before.

While the company’s US Refreshment Beverages business grew, the US Coffee business unit continued to face headwinds. US Coffee sales advanced slightly to $3.99 billion from $3.97 billion the year before while segment operating income fell to $962 million from $1 billion.

“Net price realization added 8 percentage points with inflation-driven increases across both pods and brewers,” DiSilvestro said. “Volume mix was a partial offset, declining 4.1 percentage points. Pod shipments were down a modest 2.8% demonstrating resiliency as pricing increased.”

In fiscal 2026, the company is guiding that US Coffee will remain under pressure from cost headwinds and investments made to support marketing initiatives.

“These planned investments, which are captured in our outlook, will help us to create a sustainable platform for stronger future segment performance,” DiSilvestro said.

For fiscal 2026, Keurig Dr Pepper is guiding sales will be between $25.9 billion and $26.4 billion and earnings per share will be in a “low-double-digit range,” according to the company.

The surge in sales and EPS is associated with the company’s pending acquisition of JDE Peet’s, which is scheduled to close in April.