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Coca-Cola to market coffee-, tea-based drinks, analysts say
Coca-Cola (KO) is about to introduce coffee- and tea-based beverages in North America as soft-drink sales slip in the U.S., beverage analysts said Tuesday.
"Coke already sells a canned-coffee product called Georgia in Japan," said Tom Pirko, president of Bevmark, beverage consultants in Santa Inez, Calif.
The company is expected to roll out its new products in Canada at midweek, "but that's a trial and they're really aiming for the U.S. market eventually," Pirko said. American consumers "have shown their enthusiasm for cold-coffee drinks, a trend started by Starbucks (SBUX) that's (segueing) into the soft-drink category."
"Americans are bored with soft drinks - with colas and lemon-lime and orange flavors," he continued. "Those are lifestyle drinks, but they offer empty calories and are associated with obesity." He said consumers are moving to sports drinks, "which offer energy," and coffee and tea, which have cache and, in the case of tea, known health benefits.
In early 2006, Coke launched Coke Blak in blend of cola and coffee in France.
PepsiCo (PEP) "once experimented with a coffee-cola but it fell flat in the U.S.," said Craig Ruffolo, vice president at McKeany-Flavell Co., ingredient marketers in California. Meanwhile, sales of cold, bottled and canned-tea drinks like Snapple and Arizona Tea have "done very well here," he observed.
In 2005, U.S. demand for soft drinks dipped for the first time in 20 years, sagging 0.2%. Pepsi and Coca-Cola watched their soda sales sag 1.7% and 0.01% respectively, according to Beverage Digest.
www.marketwatch.com
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