Coke makes moves towards tea, juices and waters
Geneva: Coca-Cola Co. is mulling making a bid for Snapple, the iced tea division owned by Cadbury Schweppes Plc as part of Coke's push into tea-based drinks according to Coke chief executive E. Neville Isdell.

Coke's tea push also includes reviving its pact with Nestle. Coke recently met with officials from the Coke-Nestle joint venture, Beverage Partners Worldwide, to advance their plans, Isdell said.

Rejecting the notion that the market for carbonated soft drinks like Coke was declining Isdell pointed to the success of the launch of the new beverage, Coke Zero, said to be the company's most successful brand launch in 20 years. Isdell said Coke Zero would help will help increase the group's published growth targets.

Coke Zero has already grabbed market share of 3-5 percent for carbonated soft drinks in key markets such as France, Germany and Japan, Isdell said.
Back to News Review index page  

China acknowledges domestic-product safety problems
Hong Kong: Beijing officials admitted that nearly one-fifth of locally produced goods targeted at domestic consumers suffered from quality-control problems and failed to meet safety standards according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

There has been growing scrutiny over the safety of Chinese products exported to overseas markets.

The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, a government consumer safety group, reviewed 114 types of products made by more than 6,300 companies and found that 19.1 per cent of them were substandard, according to The Wall Street Journal, which cited figures published on the department's Web site. The figures were from a study that was done in the first six months of 2007. See Wall Street Journal story (subscription required)

The inspection and quarantine agency said 26 categories of products (including bottled water, canned fruit, dried fish, linens, and grass-cutting equipment) topped the list for quality problems.
Back to News Review index page