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Tag: coca-cola

  • Cola, sugar prices shoot up 10% in Korea

    Cola, sugar prices shoot up 10% in Korea

    Processed food prices rose in January, with soybean paste, sugar and cola all jumping up around 10 percent compared to a year earlier. The Korea Consumer Agency (KCA) said Monday that 18 of 26 major processed foods measured both in 2018 and 2019 cost more in January than the previous year. The highest price hikes on year included sugar at 11 percent, soybean paste at 9.8 percent and cola at 9.7 percent. Among processed grain foods, instant rice products rose the most, by 5.6 percent. Prices for cup ramyeon noodles, one of the country’s favorite snacks, rose 3.4 percent.

    The KCA releases prices for a basket of around 30 major processed food categories every month. The basket price data serves as a separate indicator of real price changes for consumers. Other tracked products include beer, coffee mix and curry.

    Compared to the previous month, the average basket price for January rose 0.2 percent to 122,686 won ($109) from 122,491 won. Soybean paste prices rose on month by 4.7 percent and curry by 1.4 percent. Average cola prices rose 6.0 percent from December. The soft drink’s price rose last month after two months of declines.

    The KCA reported that the basket’s price was most affordable from large retail stores compared to traditional markets, department stores and large-size supermarkets.

    Meanwhile, products that declined in price on year included cooking oil at minus 6.1 percent, orange juice at minus 5.3 percent and red pepper paste at minus 4.9 percent.

    The data comes as consumer prices for January rose by 0.8 percent from 2018, according to Statistics Korea. The consumer price index for “living necessity food” rose 2.6 percent last month from the previous year.

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  • Coca-Cola India launches grape based sparkling drink Colour

    Coca-Cola India launches grape based sparkling drink Colour

    Beverages major Coca-Cola India on Friday expanded its Minute Maid product range by launching a grape fruit based sparkling drink branded as Colour, said a top company official. People in Tamil Nadu towns and villages used to call soft drink ‘Colour’. Coca-Cola India has branded its new grape juice sparkler as ‘Colour’ to resonate with the local lingo.

    He also said the company would launch a new product in Andhra Pradesh that would be branded under a similar philosophy.

    “The new grape juice based Colour is launched here and will be focused on Tamilian population within India. The product is part of our strategy of expanding our fruit based beverages,” T.Krishnakumar, President, Coca-Cola India and South West Asia said.

    He said the company apart from focusing on its core products – carbonated drinks – also concentrates on launching products preferred in regional markets and also on expanding the ‘fruit circular economy’ – launching fruit based drinks made with domestically grown fruits.

    “The black grapes for the drink are sourced from grape farmers in South India,” Krishnakumar said.

    He did not agree that the new brand ‘Colour’ under the broader Minute Maid brand would reduce the latter’s brand equity. Minute Maid brand is known as a fruit based beverage brand.

    “We are expanding the products under the Minute Maid brand. The new product has 12 per cent grape juice content,” Krishnakumar said.

    According to Srideep Kesavan, Director-Juices, Coca-Cola India and South West Asia, research showed that grape juice was a fast moving product at fruit juice stalls in Tamil Nadu.

    Queried about cutting down on the sugar content in the company’s beverages, Krishnakumar said it will come down soon and a start has been made with the grape sparkler Colour with 9.5 grams of sugar.

    On the value of fruit pulp/products that Coca-Cola India would source under its ‘fruit circular economy’ he said the company had committed that a sum of Rs 5,000 crore would be spent on that head by 2023 and the company is in line with that commitment.

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  • Love Yourself a BTS-themed coca cola

    Love Yourself a BTS-themed coca cola

    Coca-Cola launched BTS-themed bottles as part of its “Share a Coke” campaign on Monday. The bottles come in seven different designs – each one representing a member of the K-pop boy group – with inspirational messages referencing the group’s song titles. This year, the special Coke bottle labels read in Korean “Your spring day is today,” “I’m fine if it’s you,” “Run like yourself,” “You’re really dope,” “You are my idol,” “Go instead of worry” and “This year is blazing fire.”

    Bottles are also decorated with images of the members’ faces and vivid colors like pink, yellow and green.

    The BTS-themed drinks are available in grocery stores and convenience stores across Korea. They come in 350-milliliter (12-ounce) aluminum cans and 500-milliliter, 1.5-liter and 1.8-liter bottles.

    Coca-Cola in Korea has been launching special edition Coke bottles as part of its Share a Coke storytelling campaign since 2014. The campaign’s goal is to help consumers share hopeful messages with friends and family by exchanging the drinks with one another.

  • Burger house competition in Hong Kong

    Burger house competition in Hong Kong

    In 2018, two international burger chains have opened restaurants and branched out in the city. In May 2018, Shake Shack brought the modern day roadside burgers, to Hong Kong with its partner Maxim’s Caterers Limited. Maxim’s Caterers Limited is a Hong Kong based food, beverage and restaurant chain founded in 1956, and the company operates over 1,000 outlets in Hong Kong including The Cheesecake Factory and Simplylife Cafe.

    “We see tremendous opportunity for Shake Shack in Hong Kong and Macau,” said Randy Garutti, CEO of Shake Shack. “We are thrilled to bring the joy of Shake Shack to our fans in these dynamic communities as we continue to expand our footprint in Asia.”

    On 19 November 2018, after months of staring longingly at the red and white hoarding, the day to check out Five Guys’ first Hong Kong restaurant has finally arrived. The popular fast food chain is now serving up all the American-style burgers, hotdogs, milkshakes, and fries. Naturally, burger lovers in Hong Kong were excited to get a chance to check it out.

    After 2 months,there is still a queue outside Five Guys owing to the all-you-can-eat peanuts and Coca-cola Freestyle. Coca-cola Freestyle is a concept similar to the Big Gulp offered by the 7-Eleven, customers may choose and drink all the provided soft drinks freely for only $30 Hong Kong dollars.

    This increasing number of burger outlets landing in HK just leaves us with one question – when is In-N-Out Burger making its way to Hong Kong?

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  • The Coca-Cola Company completes acquisition of Costa

    The Coca-Cola Company completes acquisition of Costa

    The Coca-Cola Company has announced that it has completed the acquisition of Costa Limited from Whitbread PLC. The US$ 4.9 billion transaction follows approval from regulatory authorities in the European Union and China. The acquisition was first announced on August 31, 2018. Costa, which has operations in more than 30 countries, gives Coca-Cola a significant footprint in the global coffee business. Worldwide, the coffee segment is growing 6 percent annually. Costa has a scalable platform across multiple formats and channels, from the existing Costa Express vending system to opportunities to introduce ready-to-drink products.

    “We see great opportunities for value creation through the combination of Costa’s capabilities and Coca-Cola’s marketing expertise and global reach,” said James Quincey, CEO of The Coca-Cola Company. “Our vision is to use the strong Costa platform to expand our portfolio in the growing coffee category.”

    “We wish our friends and colleagues at Costa all the very best for their future success,” said Alison Brittain, Whitbread Chief Executive. “Whitbread acquired Costa 23 years ago, when it had only 39 shops. Costa has grown to become a leading, international coffee brand, and Coca-Cola is the right partner to take Costa to the next stage of expansion.”

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  • The digital opportunity for Coca Cola at Costa Coffee

    The digital opportunity for Coca Cola at Costa Coffee

    Coca-cola bought Costa Coffee for GBP3.9 billion (US$5.1 billion) recently. As a result of the deal, the US-based fizzy drink company will gain a strong cafe presence across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and the Asia Pacific.

    So far, Costa has about 2,400 coffee shops in the UK, 1,400 coffee shops in 31 international markets, and more than 8,000 Costa Express self-serve units.

    Why your cash is no good at these bars and coffee shops

    On average, the brand has been in business for more than 40 years and has opened 289 new stores every year. In fact, prior to the deal, Costa was set on establishing a strong presence in China.

    The company also earned GBP1.167 billion (US$1.507 billion) in revenues in 2016. The figure pales in comparison to Starbucks’ revenues of US$22.39 billion (2017) but maybe in a couple of years, Costa might be in a position to lead the market.

    One of the biggest factors that will play to Coca-Cola’s advantage is that innovation is part of Costa’s DNA. “When I came to the business I could see the foundation was strong but we needed to invigorate and innovate. I want us to be famous for innovating,” said Costa MD Dominic Paul last year.

    The company even worked with startups in the UK to prepare itself for the digital world, and build the coffee shop of the future. “We want to build an experience that’s relevant in 2025,” said an executive at one of the company hackathons.

    Highlighting the digital opportunity

    Starbucks has access to plenty of data about its customers and their buying habits, and it does a fabulous job using technology to drive business growth — today.

    Costa Coffee, on the other hand, might not know as much about its customers but with Coca-Cola in the mix, the company has significant opportunities ahead of it.

    Coca-Cola owns brands like fairlife (milk), Dasani (water), Georgia (coffee), Nestea (ice-tea), Cappy (fruit juice) among several others.

    The company understands the beverage market and has data to map seasons, geographies, and other metrics to customer purchases — allowing Costa to enter new markets, draw up ideal customer personas to market to, and even create more targeted advertising.

    In fact, Costa Coffee could even follow in Starbucks’ footsteps and venture into the retail market, all on the strong shoulders of Coca-Cola.

    Here are a few technologies that Coca-Cola uses — that Costa could borrow and benefit from in the future:

    # 1 | AI-driven proof-of-purchase for loyalty program

    One reason why Starbucks has been able to collect mountains of customer data is that they offer a great loyalty program. In fact, since their loyalty program runs on an app, the company is able to send targeted messages and offers as well.

    Costa could ape the loyalty program that Starbucks offers, and it could make it better by incorporating features that award points for the purchase of ready to drink coffee products from supermarkets and retail outlets.

    In order to do so, the company could use the AI solution that Coca-Cola developed in partnership with Google last year — which is now part of most of the campaigns run by the fizzy drink company in the US.

    # 2 | AI-powered vending machine count

    In the digital age, vending machines are a good alternative to retail outlets, especially for the cafe industry.

    A large number of people across the globe wait in a queue every morning, only to take their coffee and bagel ‘to-go’. Having more vending machines could be a good way to solve the problem — especially if they’re stocked frequently.

    However, the problem then would be checking when a machine needs to be refilled. If Costa is to go down this route, it could leverage a solution that Coca-Cola developed in partnership with Salesforce.

    The ERP giant’s AI product had been trained to recognize, identify, and count the varieties and quantities of Coca-Cola bottles stored in one of its cooler display cabinets, simply by analyzing a photo taken with an iPad or iPhone.

    Further, using AI, the system can factor in seasonal variations, weather information, and upcoming promotions, to automatically calculate when the machines need to be restocked.

    # 3 | Big data to determine popular flavors

    Coca-Cola created Cherry Sprite based on data from hundreds of thousands of self-serve soft-drink fountains.

    It has developed strong big data capabilities and understand how to leverage data to determine how to create products that customers prefer.

    Using this knowledge, and data from Coca-Cola’s Georgia and other brands, Costa could create the perfect ready to drink beverages for customers, propelling itself ahead of the competition quite quickly — especially with Coca-Cola’s distribution and supply chain intelligence to support it.

  • Coca Cola Australia buys Mojo Kombucha

    Coca Cola Australia buys Mojo Kombucha

    Coca Cola Australia announced on Tuesday it has acquired the Organic & Raw Trading Co., the Australia-based owner of Mojo Kombucha.

    The terms of the deal were not disclosed. In a move that sees the soft drink maker diversify into low-sugar, natural beverages, Coca Cola will add Mojo brands to its portfolio of 165 products and 25 brands across Australia.

    “The addition of Mojo Kombucha fits perfectly with the growing popularity of organic, probiotic drinks,” Vamsi Mohan, president of Coca-Cola Australia, said in a statement.

    In the last twelve months, Coca Cola has been buying up healthier drink companies, including sparkling water, as consumers become increasingly health conscience.

    More recently, the soft drink heavy weight acquired UK coffee chain Costa for $5.1 billion and invested a small stake into Kobe Bryant’s sports drink BodyArmor in August.

    For the second quarter 2018, Coca Cola reported net revenues declined 8% to $8.9 billion, impacted by a 15% headwind from the refranchising of company-owned bottling operations.

    However, organic revenues grew 5%, driven by concentrate sales growth of more than 2% and price/mix growth of more than 2%.

    “We’re encouraged with our performance year-to-date as we continue our evolution as a consumer-centric, total beverage company,” said James Quincey, President and CEO of Coca-Cola. “We have the right strategies in place and remain focused on achieving our full year guidance.”

  • Costa Coffee exits Singapore after closing last store

    Costa Coffee exits Singapore after closing last store

    Just days after Costa Coffee announced it was to be bought by Coca-Cola, UK cafe chain Costa Coffee has confirmed it is exiting Singapore.

    During the last 13 weeks Costa Coffee Singapore has closed six stores in the city and its two remaining outlets will close imminently: Holland Village (September 7) and VivoCity on Sunday week.

    Costa Coffee launched in Singapore in 2012, and has a presence in other Asian markets including Cambodia and Vietnam (where it has one store at Danang Airport).

    A spokesman for Costa Coffee Singapore said: “We are committed to remaining within the South-east Asia region and have ambitious plans to grow the Costa brand.” He said the decision to exit Singapore was made early this year.

    An unnamed employee of Costa Coffee Singapore said that high rents were behind the decision to close the stores,

    However, Esther Ho, director of the School of Business Management at Nanyang Polytechnic, said international coffee chains were struggling in Singapore because they were not focused enough on “experiences” that helped to justify premium prices.

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  • Coca-Cola enters ‘health & wellness’ space in India

    Coca-Cola enters ‘health & wellness’ space in India

    Taking another step towards its commitment to provide an array of healthy and nutritious beverage choices to consumers, Coca-Cola India expanded its portfolio of Minute Maid by launching Minute Maid Smoothie, a delicious snack that combines the ‘Power of 3’ ingredients – Fruits, Milk and Nutrients.

    The launch is a continuation of Coca-Cola India’s efforts to expand its portfolio including, ‘Health and Wellness’. This is a significant addition in Minute Maid fraternity and underlines company’s commitment towards the Fruit Circular Economy initiative.

    Made from locally sourced fruits, the product has been designed to suit the Indian palate and cater to the increasing needs of mothers looking for a combination of nutritious goodness and taste. Minute Maid Smoothie is available in Mango & Banana variants, priced at Rs 30 for 250ml.

    “Minute Maid Smoothie is an ideal choice for mothers looking for a snack that is tasty, filling and nutritious. We specifically developed this product after listening to mothers and understanding their needs. Children are picky eaters and are always look for something tasty, mothers often find it tough to balance between nutrition and taste. MM Smoothie contains real mango juice that gives it a great taste kids love, puree of banana which makes it filling, goodness of whole milk that mothers trust and topped up with nutrients such as Vitamin B3, B6, Vitamin E, Zinc and Calcium that play a key role in metabolism and building strength and stamina” said, Vijay Parasuraman, Vice President, Coca-Cola India & South West Asia.

    In the first phase of the launch, the product will be available in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, followed by other states. In the coming months, Coca-Cola India will also expand the Smoothie range by introducing other popular flavours.

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  • The Coca-Cola Company to acquire Costa

    The Coca-Cola Company to acquire Costa

    The Coca-Cola Company has announced that it has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Costa Limited, which was founded in London in 1971 and has grown to become a major coffee brand across the world.

    The acquisition of Costa from parent company Whitbread PLC is valued at US$ 5.1 billion and will give Coca-Cola a strong coffee platform across parts of Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, with the opportunity for additional expansion. Costa operations include a leading brand, nearly 4,000 retail outlets with highly trained baristas, a coffee vending operation, for-home coffee formats and Costa’s state-of-the-art roastery.

    For Coca-Cola, the expected acquisition adds a scalable coffee platform with critical know-how and expertise in a fast-growing, on-trend category. Costa ranks as the leading coffee company in the United Kingdom and has a growing footprint in China, among other markets. Costa has a solid presence with Costa Express, which offers barista-quality coffee in a variety of on-the-go locations, including gas stations, movie theaters and travel hubs. Costa, in various formats, has the potential for further expansion with customers across the Coca-Cola system.

    The acquisition will expand the existing Coca-Cola coffee lineup by adding another leading brand and platform. The portfolio already includes the market-leading Georgia brand in Japan, plus coffee products in many other countries.

    Costa also provides Coca-Cola with strong expertise across the coffee supply chain, including sourcing, vending and distribution. This will be a complement to existing capabilities within the Coca-Cola system.

    “Costa gives Coca-Cola new capabilities and expertise in coffee, and our system can create opportunities to grow the Costa brand worldwide,” said James Quincey, President and CEO, Coca-Cola.

    Quincey added, “Hot beverages is one of the few segments of the total beverage landscape where Coca-Cola does not have a global brand. Costa gives us access to this market with a strong coffee platform.”

    Coffee is a significant and growing segment of the global beverage business. Worldwide, coffee remains a largely fragmented market, and no single company operates across all formats on a global basis.

    “The Costa team and I are extremely excited to be joining The Coca-Cola Company,” said Dominic Paul, Managing Director, Costa.

    Paul added, “Costa is a fantastic business with committed and passionate associates, a great track record and enormous global potential. Being part of the Coca-Cola system will enable us to grow the business farther and faster. I would like to say a huge thank you to our customers and to everyone in the Costa team who have helped us build the business to this position, and I look forward to the next exciting chapter in Costa’s vision of Inspiring the World to Love Great Coffee.”

    Transaction details

    The purchase price is £3.9 billion. This translates to approximately US$ 5.1 billion. Upon the closing, The Coca-Cola Company will acquire all issued and outstanding shares of Costa Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Whitbread. This subsidiary contains all of the existing operating businesses of Costa.

    Whitbread will be seeking shareholder approval for the transaction, which is expected to take place by mid-October. The deal is subject to customary closing conditions, including antitrust approvals in the European Union and China. It is expected to close in the first half of 2019.

    Coca-Cola expects the transaction to be slightly accretive in the first full year, not taking into account any impact from purchase accounting. For the fiscal year 2018 (ending March 1, 2018), Costa generated revenue and EBITDA of £1.3 billion and £238 million GBP, respectively. This equates to roughly $1.7 billion in revenue and US$ 312 million in EBITDA.

    Because Coca-Cola expects the transaction to close in the first half of 2019, there is no change to 2018 guidance. The company’s long-term targets also remain unchanged. Coca-Cola will provide additional information as part of comprehensive guidance provided during the fourth quarter 2018 earnings call.

    Advisers

    Rothschild acted as exclusive financial adviser to The Coca-Cola Company. Clifford Chance acted as legal counsel to The Coca-Cola Company, and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom acted as tax counsel to The Coca-Cola Company.

  • Coca-Cola India announces changes to its leadership team

    Coca-Cola India announces changes to its leadership team

    Coca-Cola India, a leading beverage company that offers a range of beverage choices to consumers, announced changes to its leadership structure. The new structure is designed to enable the India and South West Asia business to be a growth engine for The Coca-Cola Company by capitalizing on emerging opportunities while continuing to build on talent development.

    Announcing the change, T. Krishnakumar, President, Coca-Cola India and South West Asia said, “We believe there are significant opportunities that lie ahead of us to grow our portfolio and meaningfully penetrate the market. These changes will address developing business needs and pave the way to develop a stronger portfolio for the future. It also reinforces our commitment towards investing in talent development.”

    To lead this change, Sundeep Bajoria, a veteran of the Coca-Cola system has taken over as Vice-President – South West Asia (SWA) Operations from his earlier role of Vice President Strategy and Insights. With the growing significance of expanding our regional footprint, he now spearheads the South West Asia region and will work towards making it an innovation and growth engine for the India & South West Asia business and the Coca-Cola system.

    Bajoria brings a successful track record of over 20 years within and outside the Coca-Cola system in Strategy, Finance, revenue growth management, Capital projects, and People & capability development. He is a 14 year veteran of the Coca-Cola system having worked in multiple roles in different Group businesses and Bottling Investment Groups.

    Chandrasekar Radhakrishnan has been appointed to the position of Vice President – Strategy & Insights, Coca-Cola India and South West Asia. Chandrasekar will take charge of the strategic initiatives for the company to accelerate the pace of innovation and assess opportunities to offer a much broader and deeper portfolio of beverages for the consumers.

    With a career spanning over two decades, Radhakrishnan comes with a combination of international and domestic experience. He joins Coca-Cola India from Nestlé, where he was responsible for leading a worldwide initiative to optimize marketing efficiencies. As the Head of Consumer Communication and eCommerce, he has effectively embedded brand building capabilities in the organization, drove creative excellence in brand communication via strong internal and external partnerships, laid a strong foundation in building digital and eCommerce competencies and played a key role in establishing consumer engagement. He has contributed significantly to the cause-based campaigns of the company thereby making a positive impact on the society. He has also worked with Britannia, Marico and Airtel and has played a variety of roles across sales, marketing and business functions.

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  • Who’s who of retail CEOs at Consumer Goods Forum

    Who’s who of retail CEOs at Consumer Goods Forum

    Next month’s Consumer Goods Forum to be held at the Marina Bay Sands will feature a ‘who’s who’ of international retail leaders.

    This year marks the first time in a decade the event is being held in Asia. Running from June 12-15, it is themed Consumer Centricity in a Data-Driven World.

    Industry leaders including Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang, Dairy Farm International CEO Ian McLeod, Coca-Cola Company CEO James Quincey, Majid Al Futtaim Holding CEO Alain Bejjani, Ahold Delhaize CEO Dick Boer, JD international president Winston Cheng, Central Retail CEO Nicolo Galante, Carrefour China president and CEO Thierry Garnier and Metro AG CEO and chairman Olaf Koch are all on the speaking roster.

    Former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright will deliver a keynote address.

    Consumer Goods Forum MD Peter Freedman says the summit is often described as the most important leadership event on the consumer goods industry’s calendar.

    “The key focus of this year’s conference will be on how to ensure that we continue to keep consumers at the centre of the digital transformation in our industry. In that context we will also be discussing how we can accelerate our work on global positive change, which millennials and younger consumers are so concerned to see. We are delighted to be holding the event in Singapore, one of the world’s leading smart cities, with some of the most digitally sophisticated consumers, and geographically close to so many Asian digital innovations.”

    More than 1000 delegates, from more than 400 leading retailers and consumer goods companies will engage with this year’s theme through sessions focused on stories such as:

    • Investing in the age of disruption;
    • Evolving retail for the smart consumer;
    • The future of work: people & technology;
    • Positive change in action: driving a circular economy;
    • New Retail: creating new value for consumers;
    • Global millennials: the data-driven facts;
    • Executing a digital and omni-channel growth strategy; and
    • Transforming customer experiences through big data.
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  • The Face Shop X Coca Cola has been launched

    The Face Shop X Coca Cola has been launched

    Korean makeup brand The Face Shop has launched a range of Coca Cola cosmetics in an unusual collaboration with the US soft drink brand.

    The makeup range includes cushion compact, powder pact, five cream lip tints, five lipsticks, three gel lip tints, and an eyeshadow palette – all in Coca Cola pattern packages.

    Not only are they sold to look a little like Coke products… they even smell like Coca Cola.

    The Face Shop says the lip tints and lipsticks really do have a scent similar to “the real thing”…

    The lip tint packaging also features a cute polar bear image on the cap.

    The Coca Cola cosmetics collection by The Face Shop is sold online and at retail chains in Korea.

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  • Coca-Cola Amatil-owned fruit brand SPC to enter China market in 4500 stores

    Coca-Cola Amatil-owned fruit brand SPC to enter China market in 4500 stores

    Managing director Reg Weine said that its premium Goulburn Valley 700g fruit range, SPC snack cups and pouch ranges, and IXL jam would be the first products to enter stores.

    SPC’s snack cups are already available on online retailer JD.com and Weine said the full range of SPC, Goulburn Valley and IXL products will progressively be available across major online and offline retailers in China.

    In end-January, SPC finalised an agreement with China State Farm Agribusiness (CSFA) Shanghai to export SPC, Goulburn Valley and IXL lines of processed fruit products to China.

    CSFA Shanghai, a wholly-owned subsidiary of China National Agriculture Development Group Corporation — one of China’s largest agribusiness conglomerates — will be “master distributor” of SPC’s brands and product lines in China.

    “It takes significant time and resources to build brands in overseas markets, which is why we are partnering with China’s leading agricultural firm. Their enviable track record of successfully bringing premium foreign brands to China is very attractive to us,”​ said Weine

    Marketing to middle class​

    He added that CSFA Shanghai had the dedicated personnel and sales and marketing support that SPC needed to build its brands, as well as the distribution capability to reach China’s burgeoning middle class.

    At the signing ceremony, he said, “It’s about taking our market-leading brands into markets where provenance plays a part and there is a large enough consumer segment that is affluent and willing to pay a premium for Australian produce.”​

    To this end, they have engaged Chinese singer and actress Ye Yiqian, who as a “deep connection with aspirational Chinese consumers”​ to be brand ambassador.

    Extensive distribution ​

    Weine confirmed that the exported fruit products will be available in over 4,500 premium retail and mother and baby stores, which he said will provide a considerable market for the company’s products.

    “We will have a strong presence in bricks-and-mortar retailing ​— including Alibaba’s HEMA retail outlets, Ole supermarkets and mother and baby chain Kidswant,”​ he said.

    Initially, they will be in China’s tier one cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Tianjin, and later will include Shenzhen and Chongqing.

    The products will also be carried by leading e-commerce platforms such as such as JD.com, Kaola, and Alibaba’s T-Mall.

    Asian expansion​

    Said Weine, “This hopefully will only be the beginning of our relationship with Chinese consumers.”​

    He emphasised that China represents a significant business opportunity for SPC in the years ahead, with its processed fruit market five times that of Australia.

    Among further plans for expansion, Weine said SPC’s ProVital, functional and fortified fruit products in accessible packaging, will also appeal to China’s ageing population.

    In the vast Asia Pacific region, aside from China, SPC already exports to Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Pacific islands and the Middle East.

    In February, SPC will also be launching its Perfect Fruit frozen fruit whip dessert in India and, shortly after, to Japan as well.

    Coca-Cola Amatil-owned SPC is the largest producer of premium packaged fruit and vegetables in Australia, processing about 150,000 tonnes of fruit a year. Its products include processed and packed fruit, vegetables, spreads and jams, prepared meals, snack foods, sauces and condiments.

    CSFA Shanghai already has established business relationships with several Australian companies including A2 Milk and Stanbroke Premium Beef. The company will organise staff and carry out sales and marketing to build SPC’s product brands in China.

  • Coca-Cola brings back the Clay Dolls for Chinese New Year

    Coca-Cola brings back the Clay Dolls for Chinese New Year

    Coca-Cola China has once again revived its festive ‘Clay Doll’ figures to help promote Chinese New Year festivities.

    The commercial from McCann Shanghai features “evolved and refreshed” versions of the animated dolls, which first appeared in Coca-Cola festive campaigns in 2001.

    Modelled on Chinese traditional folk dolls, the brand usually depicts the pair as gleefully trying to find ways to help bring loved-ones together at holiday time.

    For the 2018 campaign, the Clay Dolls are shown causing mischief around a family dinner table in order to create moments of closeness.

    The full campaign will see the dolls depicted on Coca-Cola packaging, while the ad will be shown on TV, in-store, on OOH, cinema and digital channels.

    The campaign also continues the use of virtual Red Packets, which Coca-Cola launched on the Alipay platform last year, where consumers click to win real money – with amounts ranging from 0.1 to 99 RMB.

    “We’ve found our Chinese audience to be strongly empathetic towards these characters and their cultural significance for Chinese New Year, having been associated with CocaCola for nearly 17 years”, said Richard Cotton, head of creative excellence and content, Coca-Cola China.

    “They are Chinese New Year’s mischievous secret helpers and their characters reflect the spirit of the celebration, which is joyful and exuberant.”

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