With the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) show returning to Atlanta for the first time since 2010, executives from the Coca-Cola Co. didn’t have to travel very far from the company’s downtown headquarters to the show’s location at the Georgia World Congress Center. That was probably a good thing considering that they certainly had their hands full with a heap of new products and packages that Coke unveiled at the event.
Staffed by a small army of sales and marketing executives, Coke’s sprawling booth was packed with a broad array of line extensions and packaging updates, each highlighted by the company’s new Digital Cold Vault platform. The video-based technology uses demographic data and market insights that give C-store operators the ability to customized beverage sets each designed to increase sales and shopper satisfaction on a store to store basis.
Embedded within the Digital Cold Vault presentation were several of Coke’s new product introductions, which the company termed as “business-generating innovation.” From the recent launch of Sprite Cranberry, to an upcoming revamp for Vitaminwater’s 20 oz. bottles, to a new cold-activated 16 oz. can, Coke sought to offer retailers new ways to attract consumers and maximize shelf space.
“Retailers are looking for meaningful innovation that drives traffic,” said Doug Middlebrooks, Asst. VP of Shopper Marketing – Convenience Retail, The Coca-Cola, Co. Inc.
For Coke, part of that meaningful innovation meant doubling down on its presence in the liquid water enhancer category, which was pioneered and dominated by Kraft Foods’ MiO brand. Coke’s foray into liquid water enhancers began in October 2012 with the launch of Dasani Drops, and earlier this year, the company introduced Powerade Zero Drops, a likely response to MiO’s launch of MiO Fit, a sports-centric line extension. Coke will soon extend the “Drops” platform with products from Minute Maid and Vitaminwater Zero, both scheduled to debut early next year.
Minute Maid Drops is “the only liquid beverage flavor enhancer in the U.S. made with real fruit juice (an important driver of purchase intent)” according to a fact sheet that Coke distributed at the NACS show. The products contain 5 calories per serving and will come in three flavors: Lemonade, Pink Lemonade and Mango Tropical. Each will be packaged in a 1.9 oz. bottle.
Vitaminwater Zero Drops will launch in late March 2014 and is a line of naturally sweetened, zero-calorie liquid water enhancers that are packaged in 3 oz. bottles. Coke will debut the new line with four varieties: XXX, an acai-blueberry-pomegranate flavor, Revive, a fruit punch flavor, Squeezed, a lemonade flavor, and Rise, an orange flavor.
A line of liquid water enhancers wasn’t the only brand extension for Vitaminwater. Coke has reprised the short-lived Vitaminenergy with a new line called Vitaminwater Energy. Similar to Starbucks’ Refreshers brand, the products are naturally sweetened and formulated with an energy blend that includes green bean coffee extract and B-vitamins. Unlike the previous incarnation of the line, the non-carbonated beverages are packaged in slim 12 oz. cans (as opposed to a 16 oz. package) and contain 50 calories per can.
Coke also showcased a new bag-in-box fountain dispenser for Vitaminwater. The 4-value unit uses a Postmix Bag-in-Box, each of which holds 2.5 gallons of liquid. The fountain station will dispense four Vitaminwater varieties: XXX, Revive, Essential and Vitaminwater Zero Squeezed.
Fruitwater, the Vitaminwater brand extension which Coke revived earlier this year, will have two new flavors — Fizzy Lemonade and Tropical Pineapple — coming in 2014. The artificially sweetened, zero-calorie carbonated drinks are, like many new brands and products seen at the NACS show, similarly positioned to Talking Rain’s Sparkling ICE, which has seen many companies attempt to latch on its remarkable growth rate over the past two years.
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