USA – The Coca-Cola Company has announced that it will discontinue its Zico Coconut Water brand globally and will review the future of a number of brands in its broader plans to slim down its sprawling beverage lineup.
Coca-Cola first invested in Zico in 2009 and finalized a larger acquisition of the brand in 2013 to strengthen its range of beverages beyond soft drinks. However, the brand will now be phased out in the coming months, as the company seeks to optimise its product portfolio in order to drive growth.
“As part of our portfolio optimisation efforts, we can confirm that The Coca-Cola Company plans to phase out the Zico brand in the coming months globally,” read part of a statement provided to FoodBev Media.
“This decision was not made lightly and comes at a time when we are focused on delivering on our consumers’ wants and needs while driving scaled growth across a total beverage portfolio.
“This decision was not made lightly and comes at a time when we are focused on delivering on our consumers’ wants and needs while driving scaled growth across a total beverage portfolio.”
coca-cola company
“We can also confirm we are not discontinuing Hubert’s Lemonade. Instead, we are transitioning the brand to be available exclusively at food service locations. We are excited by the success we’ve seen with Hubert’s in the early phases of this transition and believe it will offer the best growth opportunity for this brand.
“The rightsising of the portfolio is an acceleration of the strategy we have been pursuing for the past several years, which focuses on building brands that prioritise scale in an effort to accelerate growth. At this time, I can confirm that Diet Coke Feisty Cherry, Coke Life, Northern Neck Ginger Ale and Delaware Punch are all under review as part of this process.”
This comes less than three months after Coca-Cola announced it would discontinue its Odwalla brand drinks and dissolve its chilled direct store delivery distribution network, which delivered fresh drinks to stores.
Coca-Cola also confirmed that a number of other brands including Coke Life, Diet Coke Feisty Cherry, Northern Neck Ginger Ale and Delaware Punch are all under review as part of this optimisation strategy.
The beverage company has 500 fully or partially owned brands around the world and last month said it is aiming to cut that number by more than half. The effort is part of a broader restructuring spurred by the coronavirus crisis that includes layoffs and a revamped marketing strategy.
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