ETHIOPIA – The Coca-Cola Company officially introduced the diet cola, ‘Coca-Cola Without Sugar’ in Ethiopia, joining the 160 countries globally where the brand is currently being sold.
The launch portrays the company’s continued investment and efforts to produce new products and provide choices for consumers in the country, looking for products without sugar.
The new Coca-Cola without Sugar beverage features a label design with texts “without sugar” displayed on the bottle to indicate that the new beverage does not contain any sugar.
Coca-Cola’s Managing Director Daryl Wilson said, “What makes Coca-Cola Without Sugar unique is that it has the great taste of Coca-Cola.”
“We are proud to launch Coca-Cola without Sugar beverage, as an innovative product of our time, a without sugar product that Coca-Cola fans can enjoy.”
In addition, Sprite and Fanta without sugar were also launched in the Coca-Cola without Sugar campaign.
The Coca-Cola brand manager, Tigist Getu congruent by stating, “We are confident that Ethiopian consumers will appreciate having the Coca-Cola beverages they love, the taste of classic Coca-Cola, Sprite and Fanta, without sugar, available in Ethiopia”.
In conjunction with the launch event, the Coca-Cola Company will conduct an integrated multi-media marketing campaign to promote Coca-Cola without Sugar, including product sampling to enable local communities to try the new beverages.
Under the company’s “One Brand” strategy, Coca-Cola without Sugar will still maintain the single trademark brand to show consumers Coca-Cola’s wide range of products is suitable for everyone.
The Coca-Cola Company offers over 500 brands in more than 200 countries and territories. In Ethiopia the company’s portfolio includes beverage brands, such as AdeS soy-based beverages, Ayataka green tea, Costa coffee, Dasani waters.
In June the beverage company announced plans of investing USD 300 million in expansion project intended to increase its production lines in Ethiopia in the coming five years.
The investment is part of a current project that the soft drink manufacturer is undertaking that will see establishment of a new plant through a US$70 million (2 billion birr) investment.
The new Coca-Cola Factory will sit on 14.3 hectares of land in Sebeta and is said to be the largest plant for coca cola in the country -set to be finalized early next year, an update by The Reporter reveals.
The Sebeta plant will have a manufacturing capacity of 70,000 cases per day adding to three plants that Coca-Cola currently runs in the country.
One more new plant is also on the pipeline in Hawassa, as the Company has acquired property in the Southern city. The estimated investment cost of the plant planned in Hawassa is around USD 80 million.
In addition to that Coca-Cola has tendered its bid to acquire sugar plant(s) the government is about to privatize in the early months of 2020.
The investment that is about to be made to acquire sugar plant/plants is separate from the overall USD 300 million the company has allocated for its expansion project.
