Coca-Cola "scramble for" instant coffee in coffee market

The market pattern of instant coffee in China has changed.

Yangcheng Evening News reporter Liu Yong reported: after the entire beverage industry bid farewell to the golden era of high growth, instant coffee, a minority beverage market with a high compound growth rate of 34.2%, is making it a new favorite in the industry. After the collapse of its cooperation with Nestl é, Coca-Cola, which once abandoned the ready-to-drink coffee market in mainland China, made a comeback a few days ago, announcing the official launch of its own brand of ready-to-drink coffee to China. At this point, the former "partner" has become a rival, and the market pattern that has been monopolized by Nestle for a long time is brewing changes.

Re-divide the Chinese market with Nestl é

Coca-Cola China said that the "Qiaoya" instant coffee brand newly introduced into mainland China was first listed in Japan in 1975 and is currently one of Coca-Cola's 17 brands with annual sales of more than $1 billion. Its related products will be the first to be sold in major cities in seven provinces and cities, including Shanghai, Beijing and Guangdong, with 268ml plastic bottles priced at 5-6 yuan and tin cans priced at 3-4 yuan. The reporter noted that the price is similar to similar products such as Nestle and Uni-President Yaha.

In fact, this is Coca-Cola's second foray into the ready-to-drink coffee market in mainland China. As early as 2001, Coca-Cola and Nestl é established a half-to-half tea joint venture BPW worldwide. In 2005, Coca-Cola and Nestl é jointly opened up the Nestle coffee market in China, but the cooperation between the two sides in the field of ready-to-drink coffee came to an end soon.

Ready-to-drink coffee has become a new favorite in the market

The category of ready-to-drink coffee in China has developed rapidly in the past few years. According to the survey data of Canardia in the UK, the compound growth rate of ready-to-drink coffee in China reached 34.2% from 2009 to 2013, and sales are expected to reach 79 million TEUs in 2014. At present, the major domestic brands of ready-to-drink coffee drinks are Nestle, Uni-President Yaha, Brown and so on, while some regional brands such as Suntory, Kirin, Pang de, Lishen and Moore are quietly developing.

Coca-Cola China says it has taken a fancy to the huge potential and market demand of the domestic ready-to-drink coffee drink category. However, Nestl é still holds more than 50% of the market share in the sector. In the view of Zhu Danpeng, a researcher at the China Food Business Research Institute, Coca-Cola is stronger than Nestle and Unification in terms of network, brand and channel. It is believed that its entry into this subdivision industry will soon form a new pattern.