The big three American soda companies released their sales numbers recently, and the news is not good.

Large soda bottles are seen in a bodega in Chinatown
Large soda bottles are seen in a bodega in Chinatown (Allison Joyce/Getty Images)
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As reported in The Daily Beast, Coke sold 4% less soda than last year, and Pepsi dropped 3.5% While those numbers might not seem huge by themselves, they are part of a larger trend: in 1998, the average American drank 54 gallons of soda a year; by the end of 2012 that number had dropped to 44 gallons.

The number of competitors has increased, as well; Snapple and other tea brands, Gatorade, and flavored waters have all become more prominent. The good news for the soda makers is that the developing nations have yet to be fully tapped.

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