Coca-Cola's Newest Creation Has Nothing To Do With Soda
The thought of Coca-Cola may bring up feelings of a refreshing taste, plenty of sugar, and a jolly man in a red coat giving gifts to strangers. But, forever striving to keep that net revenue of $38.7 billion growing (via The Coca-Cola Company), the business is branching out to influence even more customers.
Coca-Cola has chosen to expand its brand through coffee — a beverage you may have heard of before. The corporation has experimented with coffee-flavored Coca-Cola but is looking to capitalize on its purchase of the U.K. coffee chain Costa Coffee that occurred in 2019 by expanding operations into the U.S. by 2023 (via BeverageDaily.com).
According to Costa Coffee, the chain has over 4,000 locations worldwide, and BeverageDaily.com reports that Coca-Cola is "poised for disruption" with its plans for Costa in the U.S. despite possible competition from established brands such as Starbucks, Dunkin', and Tim Hortons. But what exactly is being planned?
Automated Costa Coffee machines are expanding
Having spent a fortune on its acquisition of Costa Coffee, Coca-Cola is likely hoping its investment will pay off, especially given that coffee consumption has grown by 14% since January 2021 in the U.S. (via National Coffee Association).
BeverageDaily.com reports that Costa's U.S. expansion will involve Costa Smart Coffee and Costa Proud to Serve. The first is a machine that will automatically produce drinks as requested. It is designed to fit into busy areas such as grocery stores and leisure outlets and is expected to create 100 drinks before requiring human intervention. Smart Coffee is called Marlow Ice in the U.K., and it has been revealed that the machine can make over 500 styles of drinks, including iced coffees and fruit cordials. Costa Proud to Serve includes a smaller, more refined machine that produces hot, cold, and pod brews for areas such as hotels and restaurants (per Costa Coffee).
While these two brands have had this launch in the pipeline for a while, only time will tell if this expansion was well worth the wait.