Went to Sainsburys for lunch and was quite shocked at how the drinks aisle has transformed so quickly.
The Cocacola "classic" was sitting there almost untouched (perhaps due to it's new higher price, perhaps due to it's new stigma) flanked by the new "zero sugar" variants of classic, peach, vanilla, cherry and finally Diet Coke (Classic variants of Cherry and Vanilla were noticeable by their absence). Nearby Pepsi sat also virtually untouched, flanked by the virtually sold out Pepsi Max.
Could we be witnessing the start of a seismic shift in the cola industry? (at least for the UK).
For years, nay forever there has been a set hierarchy in cola: Cocacola #1, Pepsi #2. Now with sugared variants of both brands losing market share due to the tax and the increasing stigma could this spell trouble for Cocacola? With focus shifting to the non-sugared variants this leaves them with Diet Coke, for decades marketed specifically to women to the point where most men consider it feminine Coke, and with Coke Zero (Now being marketed instead as Zero Sugar Coke). This leaves Coke with a problem because Coke Zero was a product that existed simply to fill a market segment, Pepsi had Pepsi Max and so Coke needed something to oppose it.
After years of Pepsi being #2 and being viewed by the public as #2 it seems the shoe is now on the other foot, because when it comes to non-sugared cola Pepsi are #1 and are viewed by most as #1 due to Coke never showing real interest in the market. To add insult to injury Diet Pepsi is seen my many as a worthy competitor to Diet Coke simply by virtue of naming scheme, perhaps this is why Coke have tried desperately to renounce the weak Coke Zero brand and repackage it simply as a sugar free variant of the more valued "Coke" brand (and to make a bad situation worse they also reformulated it as part of the deal, resulting in a product that in blind tests is viewed by many as inferior to both it's predecessor and Pepsi Max).
The times they be a changing.
