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Tag: Sprite

  • Coca-Cola Unveils New Absolut Vodka & Sprite Fusion: A Game Changer in Australia’s Ready-to-Drink Market

    Coca-Cola Unveils New Absolut Vodka & Sprite Fusion: A Game Changer in Australia’s Ready-to-Drink Market

    Coca-Cola Australia has broadened its alcoholic ready-to-drink range with the introduction of mixed drinks featuring Absolut Vodka and Sprite.

    Varieties in the New Range

    The new product line includes two distinct variants: Absolut Vodka Mixed with Sprite and Absolut Vodka Mixed with Sprite Zero Sugar. Both the versions maintain a modest alcohol by volume (ABV) content of 5 per cent, offered in 330ml cans.

    Available Packaging Options

    Customers have the option to buy these beverages in 4-packs, 10-packs, or bulk 24-can cases. The range of packaging options caters to different customer needs, whether it’s for personal consumption or a social gathering.

    Developing a Premium, Refreshing RTD Option

    Matthias Blume, Vice President of ARTD at Coca-Cola Australia, spoke about the recent launch. He stated that the introduction of Absolut Vodka Mixed With Sprite is a fusion of two renowned brands, aiming to provide a high-quality, invigorating ready-to-drink option for consumers in Australia. He also emphasized that this product is a valuable addition to their expanding ARTD portfolio, as it mirrors the ongoing momentum of the category and responds to the increasing consumer demand.

    Notably, this isn’t Absolut Vodka’s first foray into creative flavor combinations. The brand had previously collaborated with Tabasco to introduce a spicy flavor variant to its range.

    Questions & Answers

    What are the two versions of the new product launched by Coca-Cola Australia?
    Absolut Vodka Mixed with Sprite and Absolut Vodka Mixed with Sprite Zero Sugar are the two versions introduced in the new range.

    What are the available packaging options for this new range?
    Consumers can purchase these beverages in 4-packs, 10-packs, or 24-can cases.

    What is the significance of this new product range according to Matthias Blume, VP ARTD at Coca-Cola Australia?
    Matthias Blume suggests that the introduction of Absolut Vodka Mixed With Sprite reflects not only the momentum of the category but also the increasing consumer demand. It is intended to provide a premium, refreshing ready-to-drink option for Australian consumers.

  • Coca-Cola is yet to crack the code in Indian market

    Coca-Cola is yet to crack the code in Indian market

    Coca-Cola, the world’s largest beverage company, has not been able to crack a section of the Indian market even with brands such as Sprite, Maaza and Thums Up.

    India is “a different story,” John Murphy, President of the Asia Pacific Group of Coca-Cola, said at the company’s investor’s day conference in Atlanta, referring to a market of almost 300 million people in the bottom half of the pyramid in India that is yet to take to the global soft drink brands.

    “We have tried so many times in my time in the Coca-Cola system to crack the code there and we haven’t done it. We have got a team of pretty smart people who want to have the legacy to be the first to do so,” he said. India is the US giant’s sixth largest market and Coca-Cola is the country’s leading beverage maker.

    “In India we have leader brands, but we have an industry that is very underdeveloped,” Murphy said at the conference on November 16, adding that in China, Coca-Cola has a value share of an industry that is actually quite huge.

    He said Sprite, Maaza and Thums Up have tremendous equity in India and the company’s job is to leverage those brands to help grow the industry.

    “We’re excited with the work we have under way to do that. In addition, we have a couple of other categories that we believe have tremendous room for growth as we go forward and the good news is there are not too many there yet who have cracked the code on leadership in those categories,” Murphy said.

    Sales growth for soft drinks in India has tapered as urban consumers opt for low-sugar beverages and rural buyers cut discretionary spending. Smaller regional brands that are cheaper are getting popular, hurting the prospects of global beverage companies including Coca-Cola and Pepsi.

    Addressing investors and company executives across the world, including global president James Quincey, Murphy said the beverage maker had, over the past three years, launched over 500 products in Asia-Pacific.

    The runway for growth across Asia-Pacific is significant, given that 52% of the world’s population lives in the region, he said.

    “The beverage landscape in Asia-Pacific is very different today than you have seen in other parts of the world. Seven out of every 10 beverages consumed in Asia-Pacific are non-commercial,” he said.

    Asian consumers have something in common — whether they are in Japan, India or China.

    “Home rituals are important, hence the prevalence of self-home beauty, homemade juices. They love a lot of stuff, sweet, unsweet, hot, cold, gooey, un-gooey — you name it. They are very trend conscious increasingly in today’s environment and those trends are influencing the repertoire of beverages that they are trying and they love to try,” Murphy said.

    Mentioning the launch of mosambi juice under its Minute Maid franchise, Murphy said marrying a local desired fruit to a global brand creates value. The move to localise to the last mile with ethnic flavours and leveraging local fruit-based beverages is aimed at fighting back the onslaught of regional brands.

    Recent examples include ethnic flavours in carbonated soft drinks such as jeera drink RimZim and grape-flavoured Portello.

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  • Coca-Cola to restructure company and cut costs

    Coca-Cola to restructure company and cut costs

    Coca-Cola’s sales declined in the first quarter as it restructured its business, and the world’s biggest beverage maker said it will cut 1,200 jobs starting later this year as it deepens its cost-cutting.

    The maker of Fanta, Sprite and Smartwater said the job cuts will come from its corporate staff around the world. That would represent about a 22-per-cent reduction of its corporate staff of about 5,500, or a 1-per-cent reduction in its total workforce of 100,300 employees, according to FactSet.

    Coca-Cola Co. said the cuts would help it find another $800 million (U.S.) in annualized savings, in addition to the $3 billion the company previously said it is trimming. Most those savings are expected to be realized in 2018 and 2019, it said.

    The cuts are part of a comprehensive review and won’t be concentrated in any one place, the company said.

    The company has also been reshaping its business by selling back its bottling and distribution operations to independent bottlers. That means Coke is becoming more focused on selling concentrates to bottlers and marketing for its brands as its No. 2 executive, James Quincey, prepares to officially take over as CEO next week.

    Quincey has said he plans to focus on making Coke a “total beverage company,” meaning it will more aggressively seek growth in promising drinks other than soda to better reflect changing tastes. The efforts have included putting more marketing behind options like Smartwater, including a carbonated variety of the bottled water.

    When excluding the impact of refranchising, a negative impact from foreign currency exchanges and other structural changes, Coke said its revenue was flat.

    On a global basis, the Atlanta-based company said total sales volume was flat. That reflected a 1-per-cent decline in sodas, and a 3-per-cent increase for the category including water, enhanced water and sports drinks. Volume rose 2 per cent in the category including tea and coffee.

    For the first three months of the year, the company earned $1.18 billion, or 27 cents per share. Excluding one-time gains and costs, it said it earned 43 cents per share, a penny less than analysts expected, according to Zacks Investment Research.

    Total revenue was $9.12 billion in the period, topping analyst forecasts for $8.96 billion.

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