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Press release · WCRC Intelligence Unit · Food, Drinks & Spirits · Most Powerful Brands 2026

Coca-Cola leads WCRC's 2026 food and drinks power table, with Red Bull and Guinness close behind

A WCRC analysis of 37 food, drinks and spirits brands across its World, America, UK and Europe Most Powerful 100 rankings finds century-old recipes still on top, and spirits under pressure.

By WCRC Intelligence Unit · Published 13 November 2026 · For immediate release
Food, Drinks & Spirits: WCRC Most Powerful Brands 2026 industry analysis cover

13 November 2026. Coca-Cola is the most powerful food and drinks brand in WCRC's 2026 rankings, with a WCRC Power Score of 80.24. It ranks #9 in America's Most Powerful 100 Brands 2026 and #17 in the World's Most Powerful 100 Brands 2026.

The analysis, published today by the WCRC Intelligence Unit, covers 37 food, soft drinks, beer, coffee and spirits brands ranked in the World's Most Powerful 100 Brands 2026, America's Most Powerful 100 Brands 2026, the UK's Most Powerful 100 Brands 2026 and Europe's Most Powerful 100 Brands 2026.

Austria's Red Bull (78.24) and Ireland's Guinness (78.06) follow Coca-Cola. They are #10 and #11 in Europe's Most Powerful 100 and #25 and #28 in the world. Nespresso (75.28) and Mexico's Corona (73.95) complete the top five.

Heritage runs deep. Guinness dates from 1759, Twinings from 1706 and Moët & Chandon from 1743. Monster, founded in 2002, and Fever-Tree, founded in 2003, are the youngest brands in the group.

Spirits had a hard year. Diageo, owner of Guinness, Johnnie Walker, Gordon's, Tanqueray and Pimm's, reported net sales down 3.0%, Pernod Ricard, owner of Absolut, reported net sales down 14.2%, and The Edrington Group, owner of The Macallan, reported revenue down 14%, as per company filings. Lavazza (+15.7%) and Lindt (+12.4% organic) grew fastest.

“Food and drink is where brand power is oldest and stickiest. Recipes from the 18th and 19th centuries still lead, because they are part of rituals people repeat every day. The pressure is on spirits, where drinkers are buying less but better, and the big portfolios are feeling it.”

WCRC Intelligence Unit

The leaders in each ranking

  • World's Most Powerful 100Coca-Cola #17 · 80.24
  • US Most Powerful 100Coca-Cola #9 · 80.24
  • UK Most Powerful 100Johnnie Walker #12 · 69.48
  • Europe Most Powerful 100Red Bull #10 · 78.24

Read the full report: all 37 brands

Notes to editors

  • The analysis covers World's Most Powerful 100 Brands 2026 (6 brands); America's Most Powerful 100 Brands 2026 (7 brands); UK's Most Powerful 100 Brands 2026 (13 brands); Europe's Most Powerful 100 Brands 2026 (17 brands).
  • Revenue figures are as per company filings for the latest available financial year.
  • Only brands whose owners publish financial results were considered for these rankings.
  • Ranked brands may licence their WCRC badge for marketing use. Contact consulting@wcrcint.com.

About WCRC. WCRC (World Centre for Research and Consulting) is an independent research and consulting organisation. It publishes brand rankings including the World's Most Powerful 100 Brands, regional and national Most Powerful 100 Brands rankings, and national Most Trusted D2C Brands rankings, through its sites wcrcint.com, wcrcleaders.com and mostvaluablebrands.com. The WCRC Intelligence Unit publishes research briefings and industry analysis.

Media contact. WCRC Intelligence Unit, consulting@wcrcint.com

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Disclaimers

  1. Who was considered. Only brands whose owners publish financial results were considered for the underlying rankings. Brands that do not publish their financials have not been assessed or ranked. Not being in this analysis says nothing about a brand's quality.
  2. Source of every fact. This analysis uses only the facts published in WCRC's 2026 rankings named on this page, each checked twice against independent public sources. Scores, ranks and facts are as published in those rankings.
  3. Comparing scores. Brands from different rankings in the same family share one scoring method, so their scores can be read side by side. Scores marked provisional are WCRC desk assessments awaiting validation by the WCRC Business Intelligence Unit.
  4. Independent opinion. This analysis is WCRC's independent research and opinion, based on publicly available information as of November 2026. It is not an endorsement of any brand.
  5. Not a valuation or advice. Scores measure brand strength. They are not a financial valuation, and nothing here is investment, financial or purchasing advice.
  6. Revenue. Revenue is shown as per company filings for the latest available financial year. Where only group revenue is published, the group figure is shown and labelled. WCRC has not audited any figure.
  7. Trademarks. Brand names and trademarks belong to their owners and are used here for identification only. Their use does not imply any affiliation with or endorsement by WCRC.
  8. Use of the badge. Ranked brands may use their WCRC badge only as provided, unaltered and linked to their ranking page. Any other use of the WCRC name, badge or data needs WCRC's written permission.
  9. Rights and AI. © 2026 WCRC. All rights reserved. WCRC's scoring methods are proprietary. Copying, text and data mining, and use of this content to train artificial intelligence models are not permitted without written permission; WCRC expressly reserves these rights, including under Article 4 of EU Directive 2019/790.
  10. Corrections. To report an error or ask for a review, write to consulting@wcrcint.com. Corrections are made promptly.