Woolworths has dropped an unusual bombshell by refusing to stock Coca Cola’s No Sugar Coke variant.
A spokesperson said the company had made the decision against stocking the new Coke beverage because there is already a wide range of options in the carbonated soft drinks category.
“Our customers looking for a no sugar or low sugar cola option have ample choice already in the category across a range of different pack sizes and formats,” they said.
“We continue to stock Coca-Cola Zero in our stores nationwide.”
We’ve made the decision to not stock this product at this time. We believe that there is ample choice in the category for 1/2
— Woolworths (@woolworths) July 6, 2017
customers looking for a no sugar or low sugar cola. We do continue to stock Coca-Cola Zero in all our stores. Thanks! 2/2
— Woolworths (@woolworths) July 6, 2017
C&I Week understands that Woolworths has had no requests for the product in store and that adding another beverage to the shelves has the potential to make shelving space tighter and more difficult to manage.
C&I is aware that sales of carbonated soft drinks are in decline in supermarket, and sales of water both still and carbonated are up, suggesting there is a shift away from carbonate soft drinks likely to health concerns. IRi reported earlier in the year that sales of water in supermarkets were up by 8.8% per cent on the previous year.
Coke No Sugar was billed at its launch last month as the closest Coca-Cola had ever come to the taste of classic Coca-Cola but with no sugar.
After more than five years of research, the new Coca-Cola will be a permanent product on shelves. While this isn’t the case for Woolworths, Coles doesn’t appear to have the same issue, stocking the new beverage and joining with Coke in its 2 million can giveaway.
A spokeswoman for Coca-Cola said Coke was confident the No Sugar beverage will be a huge success.