Incidence pricing coca cola

Cola Wars Continue: Coke and Pepsi in 2010

For more than a century, Coke and Pepsi vied for “throat share” of the world’s beverage market. The most intense battles in the so-called cola wars were fought over the $74 billion carbonated soft drink (CSD) industry in the United States.1 In a “carefully waged competitive struggle” that lasted from 1975 through the mid-1990s, both Coke and Pepsi achieved average annual revenue growth of around 10%, as both U.S. and worldwide CSD consumption rose steadily year after year.2 According to Roger Enrico, former CEO of Pepsi:

The warfare must be perceived as a continuing battle without blood. Without Coke, Pepsi would have a tough time being an original and lively competitor. The more successful they are, the sharper we have to be. If the Coca-Cola company didn’t exist, we’d pray for someone to invent them. And on the other side of the fence, I’m sure the folks at Coke would say that nothing contributes as much to the present-day success of the Coca-Cola company than . . . Pepsi.3

That relationship began to fray in the early 2000s, however, as U.S. per-capita CSD consumption started to decline. By 2009, the average American drank 46 gallons of CSDs per year, the lowest CSD consumption level since 1989.4 At the same time, the two companies experienced their own distinct ups and downs; Coke suffered several operational setbacks while Pepsi charted a new, aggressive course in alternative beverages and snack acquisitions.

As the cola wars continued into the 21st century, Coke and Pepsi faced new challenges: Could they boost flagging domestic CSD sales? How could they compete in the growing non-CSD category that demanded different bottling, pricing, and brand strategies? What had to be done to ensure sustainable growth and profitability?

Economics of the U.S. CSD Industry
Americans consumed 23 gallons of CSDs annually in 1970, and consumption grew by an average of 3% per year over the next three decades (see Exhibit 1). Fueling this growth were the increasing availability of CSDs and the introduction of diet and flavored varieties. Declining real (inflation- adjusted) prices that made CSDs more affordable played a significant role as well.5 There were many

Professor David B. Yoffie and Research Associate Michael Slind prepared the original version of this case, “Cola Wars Continue: Coke and Pepsi in 2006,” HBS No. 706-447. This version was prepared by Professor David B. Yoffie and Research Associate Renee Kim. This case was developed from published sources. HBS cases are developed solely as the basis for class discussion. Cases are not intended to serve as endorsements, sources of primary data, or illustrations of effective or ineffective management.

Copyright © 2010, 2011 President and Fellows of Harvard College. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call 1-800-545- 7685, write Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston, MA 02163, or go to www.hbsp.harvard.edu/educators. This publication may not be digitized, photocopied, or otherwise reproduced, posted, or transmitted, without the permission of Harvard Business School.

( For the exclusive use of X. Bian, 2017. )

( This document is authorized for use only by Xiaolin Bian in BPS Coursepack Fall 2017 taught by Jeremy Vogelmann, Rutgers University from September 2017 to December 2017. )

711-462 Cola Wars Continue: Coke and Pepsi in 2010

alternatives to CSDs, including beer, milk, coffee, bottled water, juices, tea, powdered drinks, wine, sports drinks, distilled spirits, and tap water. Yet Americans drank more soda than any other beverage. Within the CSD category, the cola segment maintained its dominance, although its market share dropped from 71% in 1990 to 55% in 2009.6 Non-cola CSDs included lemon/lime, citrus, pepper-type, orange, root beer, and other flavors. CSDs consisted of a flavor base (called “concentrate”), a sweetener, and carbonated water. The production and distribution of CSDs involved four major participants: concentrate producers, bottlers, retail channels, and suppliers.7

Concentrate Producers
The concentrate producer blended raw material ingredients, packaged the mixture in plastic canisters, and shipped those containers to the bottler. To make concentrate for diet CSDs, concentrate makers often added artificial sweetener; with regular CSDs, bottlers added sugar or high-fructose corn syrup themselves. The concentrate manufacturing process involved relatively little capital investment in machinery, overhead, or labor. A typical concentrate manufacturing plant, which could cover a geographic area as large as the United States, cost between $50 million to $100 million to build.8