Compiled from Herald News Services
Published: Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Coca-Cola Co., the world's largest soft-drink maker, began making traditional Russian beverage kvas, the country's best-selling non-alcoholic drink.
The bread-based beverage will be sold under the name of Kruzhka & Bochka, or "mug & barrel," the Atlanta-based company said Tuesday in a statement. It's scheduled to go on sale this summer in 1.5-litre plastic bottles, the statement shows.
"The kvas market is the fastest-growing among non-alcohol beverages in Russia, and we can't ignore the sector," said Vladimir Kravtsov, a spokesman for Coca-Cola in Russia. Local sales of kvas rose 43 per cent to $461 million in 2007, he said, citing data by Canadean, the beverages research company.
Coca-Cola needed about two years to create the formula for the beverage, whose production is close to brewing, and find plants that met its standards, Kravtsov said. The company will rent facilities at two breweries in central Russia. The soft-drink maker will compete with local kvas producers such as OAO Deka brewery, whose Nikola brand is marketed under the slogan "Kvas is not a cola, drink Nikola." Other competitors include Ochakovo, Stepan Razin and Borodino.
