SYDNEY -- The Coca-Cola Co. has launched a line extension called Coca-Cola Plus Coffee No Sugar in time for summer in Australia.
The launch follows Coca-Cola Australia’s success last summer with limited-edition Coca-Cola Ginger.
“We know Australians love coffee so we thought why not give them more of what they want,” Coca-Cola Australia Brand Manager Evgenia Papageorgiou said. “We wanted to surprise them this summer with a new refreshing way to enjoy the taste of their favorite brew.”
The coffee flavor is derived from 100% Brazilian coffee beans, the company said.
“We wanted to replicate as much of that joyful feeling of a cup of coffee as much as possible, but with the summer fun of serving Coca-Cola ice cold,” said Coral Colyer, scientific and regulatory affairs manager for Coca-Cola South Pacific.
Evgenia said the company was “thinking of that 3 p.m. slump,” as well as “an unexpected compliment to so many foods or even an after-dinner treat.”
This isn’t Coca-Cola’s first flirtation with a coffee flavor. In the United States, the company rolled out Coca-Cola Blak, a carbonated coffee cola that sold for $1.99 in 8-ounce bottles wrapped in mocha-brown plastic, in 2005. Seventeen months later, after seeing poor sales, Blak was shelved.
The new Coca-Cola Plus Coffee No Sugar is available for a limited time in Australia beginning Sept. 26, 2017. It is sold in 11-ounce bottles and 8.3-ounce PET bottles and cans.
As of press time, there was no suggestion that Coca-Cola Plus Coffee might be released in the United States. Earlier this year, Coca-Cola launched its reformulated Coca-Cola Zero Sugar in Australia before bringing it to the United States.
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