Bubble burst—Coca-Cola has announced it will wind down distribution of AHA’s sparkling water in the US, remaining only in focused channels (ie. airlines) and their Freestyle machines.
AHA sales plunged almost 50% YTD vs. Pepsi’s Q3 Bubly growth.
Coca-Cola’s interest in seltzer came during the 2010s, during the BFY chasm, as seltzer sales finally outpaced soda.
AHA launched back in 2019 as a competitor to Pepsi’s Bubly back in 2018.
Coca-Cola will focus on more premium Topo-Chico brand
They bought TC back in 2018 as their defense in the water wars
Apart from its cult following, Topo-Chico’s hard seltzer extension has been a massive success for Coca-Cola.
Between 2017 and 2021, Topo Chico’s market share in the sparkling water category rose from 20% to 35%, according to Nielsen.
Back in 2020, Coca-Cola got rid of 200 brands, half of its entire portfolio in a massive effort to de-bloat itself, seeing how quick it has been to cut AHA, its efforts are to stay fit and lean.
Some more thoughts…
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