Coming Soon: Do-It-Yourself Coca-Cola
By Sam Lewis
World’s largest beverage maker is popping into a new market with plans to let consumers make the company’s drinks at home
On Wednesday, Feb 5 Coca-Cola announced its plan to purchase 10 percent of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters for $1.25 billion. Green Mountain is famous for its single-serving coffee makers and coffee products, but the company has also been working on a machine for cold drinks. The sale is part of an agreement that will bring the soda maker’s famous brands to the quickly-growing at-home market.
SodaStream has been leading the pack as far as at-home soda making is concerned. The Israel-based company flaunts its machines as a less expensive and more environmentally-friendly alternative to carbonated drinks from Coke and Pepsi. SodaStream has been making ambitious moves, including airing aids in the last two Super Bowls, to make its machines part of U.S. kitchens. Despite the efforts, SodaStream machines are found in just 1 percent of U.S. homes. However, the company says its machines can be found in as many as one in four Swedish homes. The announcement of the sale propelled Green Mountain’s stock upward 42 percent while SodaStream’s took a hit, dropping 6 percent.
The decision by Coca-Cola to partner with Green Mountain comes as soda consumption in the U.S. and other developed nations is declining. Meanwhile, options for consumers in retailers’ beverage aisles continue to increase. In a call, Coca-Cola’s CEO Muhtar Kent seemed unconcerned with the collaboration between Coca-Cola and Green Mountain affecting sales of the company’s canned and bottled beverages. “This is not a zero-sum game,” Kent says. He also credits Green Mountain’s development of a cold drink machine as a “real game-changing innovation.” Also on the call was CEO of Green Mountain, Brian Kelly. He adds that the company will “do with cold beverages what has been done with hot tea and coffee.”
According to Jonas Feliciano, a beverage industry analyst for market researcher Euromonitor International, the Green Mountain machine will not require a CO2 cartridge like the SodaStream machine. The inconvenience of replacing these cartridges is viewed as the primary obstacle for SodaStream reaching its full potential. The Green Mountain “Keurig Cold” machine is expected to debut sometime in fiscal 2015, beginning this fall. The new machine will allow consumers to make sodas, sports drinks, and other cold beverages with the same simplicity and single-serving units as the standard Keurig.
Want to publish your opinion?
Contact us to become part of our Editorial Community.