The company recently attended the SAITEX and Africa’s Big Seven 2012 show in Johannesburg, South Africa, where it discussed its bottling network expansion in emerging markets such as Southeast Asia, Latin America and Africa.
Moshy Cohen, vice president of marketing for RCCI (a subsidiary of Cott Beverages since 2001) told BeverageDaily.com that the firm didn’t see Africa as a “single country with a single opportunity”.
“The cola market in Africa has been developing over the years. At the same time, the per capita figures are still very low and there is room for a great deal more growth,” he added.
Market share could vary
He was responding to a question regarding the extent of the market opportunity for RCCI in Africa as it expanded its bottling network.
“There are more than 40 countries that make up Africa, each with its own market opportunities, and RCCI considers each one on an individual basis,” he told BeverageDaily.com.
“We analyze what each market’s requirements would be, review the product portfolio and identify the different potential bottling operations.”
As a result, Cohen said, the potential market share for RCCI could vary considerably in Africa; based on the firm’s global experience, it varied from 5% to 30%.
Cohen refused to be drawn on whether RCCI faced a fight in Africa against established local brands and obvious bigger multinational rivals, i.e. Pepsi and Coke.
Partnering the best bottlers
RCCI introduced its Comprehensive Support Program in every launch market, Cohen added, upon which it based its global quality, technical, R&D support and marketing and branding methodologies.
“As well as our sales programs to help each market develop and to enable local bottlers to maximize their local potential,” Cohen said.
RC Cola faced similar challenges in Africa to those it faced when penetrating other emerging markets such as Tajikistan and Kosovo, he explained.
“We partner with our bottlers to overcome any local challenges, such as infrastructure, availability of raw materials or distribution networks,” he said.
RCCI wanted to partner the best bottlers in each region who shared its long-term approach to developing cola brands and offering consumers RC Cola products at “extremely competitive” prices.
Cott Beverages is North America’s largest ‘store brand’ soft drinks producer, and on February 17 reported a 2011 turnover of $2.335bn dollars, a 29% increase on 2010.
However, while RCCI handles all RC Cola products internationally, the Dr Pepper Snapple Group distributes the drinks in the US.