TORONTO -- The Coca-Cola Co. unveiled its Far Coast brand of premium brewed beverages yesterday to the Toronto marketplace. Through Far Coast, the company has created a new system designed to empower its retail customersrestaurants, entertainment venues and other outletsto offer a variety of freshly brewed espressos, chai teas, cappuccinos and lattes with a high degree of operational ease.
Far Coast offers a variety of coffees, teas and other brews and infusions that are inspired by different cultural "adventures" in music, art and legends from around [image-nocss] the world.
According to Udaiyan Jatar, who leads Coca-Cola's Global Premium Brewed Beverage business, "Consumers are looking for quality and variety and are increasingly curious about the world around them. Far Coast was created to provide them with a window into different cultures through our range of delicious brews and infusions."
"Our goal is to provide our customers with a total range of nonalcoholic beverages, said Vince Timpano, division president for Coca-Cola Ltd.
Toronto is an ideal location for the launch because it is a multicultural city that fits the cultural exploration brand positioning of Far Coast and is in a country that has a highly developed brewed beverage market," said Silvio Annosantini, who leads this project in Canada.
To help build awareness and trial of the Far Coast brand, the company has created a Far Coast "Concept Store" in Toronto, which will provide a venue for consumers to taste and explore Far Coast blends and experience the magic of the brand. The location will allow the company to gather consumer feedback quickly on new products to provide proven products to its restaurant customers. The location is also a great venue for the company's retail customers to observe the brand potential, gain consumer learning and train crew.
"The concept store' is a powerful and innovative marketing device to build an authentic relationship between the Far Coast brand and consumers, and ultimately, help drive consumers to our retail customers," said Jatar.
Following the opening of the concept store on Toronto's Bloor Street on September 22, Coca-Cola will rollout Far Coast only through its retail customers in the Greater Toronto Area. Toronto will be closely followed by Oslo and Singapore, both of which will open their own concept stores.
Coca-Cola has developed a proprietary pod-based brewing technology that provides customers with an operationally easy system to offer barista-quality brewed beverages. This innovation is designed to help the company's customers overcome operational difficulties such as complex, unreliable machines and high labor turnover. Through this technology, retail customers can quickly and conveniently tap into the fast growing specialty coffee and tea market while receiving marketing and technical support from Coca-Cola.
In addition to Far Coast, Coca-Cola introduced CHAQWA, a complementary brand oriented towards convenience. The CHAQWA name comes from a combination of "cha," the Mandarin name for tea, and "qawah," the name for coffee in many Arabic languages. This brand allows customers like convenience stores and quick-service restaurants (QSR) to serve authentic cappuccinos and chai teas to their patrons who already visit their stores and are looking to upgrade from the coffee currently available. CHAQWA is designed for people "on the go" who don't have time to wait in a queue at a typical coffeehouse but who, if given the chance, would upgrade to a coffeehouse beverage if it were available conveniently in a QSR. In contrast, Far Coast is designed to be more experiential and "relaxed," and will be made available in upscale hotels and fine-dining establishments where consumers have the time for a more immersive experience.Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.