CCA reveals major 2017 innovations

Soft drink major CCA has revealed a new labeling design change for Coca-Cola, due for release in the new year.

Retailers were given a sneak-peak at the new designs at the 2016 Ezymart Conference and Trade Show, held near Sydney yesterday.

The new labels, still featuring the classic Dynamic Ribbon trademark, are due for release around February 2017, around the same time that the snack food giant anticipates it will run out of stock of the newly released, limited edition, Coca-Cola Ginger.

Soft drink consumers can look forward to a new flavor of Coke every year, as it was also revealed that the new ginger flavour is the start of a campaign strategy to recover lost ground in the CSD market by luring customers back with new, limited edition flavours to be released periodically in the coming years.

CCA national business manager Warren Zuel said the new ginger flavour was carefully chosen as a result of extensive market research.

“We didn’t just pick it out of a hat,” he told Ezymart retailers.

“Our research showed that people buying Coca-Cola were also putting ginger ale in their shopping baskets.”

“It’s a great way to bring people back into the (CSD) category, by giving them a short hit of something different, for a limited period of time,” he said.

“What we’re trying to do is get the consumer to try something different, and re-engage with the category.”

A wonderful world of Fanta

CCA also revealed a new range of products designed to catch the attention of consumers called ‘Fanta Wonders’.

The new Fanta range will incorporate a Unique Selling Point, one which invites the buyer to shake the beverage for 10 seconds in order to transform it into jelly.

“It’s a bit of a gimmick, but it it’s all about having fun, Fanta is a fun product, and that will be launching around March next year,” Zuel said.

“Please expect to see quite a bit of innovation from us next year.”

While a soft drink that turns into jelly may sound counterintuitive, it looks sure to appeal to the novelty-obsessed youth market, but Fanta Wonders may also make an interesting addition to weekly family shopping trolleys as an instant way to create an ice-cream and jelly dessert for children.

CCA will also release a reformulated, rebranded version of the unpopular, stevia-sweetened Coke Life, one which changes the ratio of stevia from 35 per cent to 50 per cent (with sugar).

CCA anticipates a difficult climb for the revamped soft drink, but is confident that the new ratio will appeal to consumers looking for a 50 per cent reduction in the amount of sugar in their soft drinks.

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