The old Saturday Night Live line--"No Coke, Pepsi"-- takes on a new meaning today.
Data from trade publication Beverage Digest finds Pepsi (PEP) has superseded Diet Coke as the number two carbonated beverage in America. But regular Coca-Cola (KO) still holds on to the number one spot.
“It’s kind of astonishing what’s going on here. This is just a jockeying for position in a little ways. But Coke, regular Coke—full sugar Coke—is still the top selling soft drink,“ says Yahoo Finance Columnist Rick Newman.
Overall soda sales were down for the 10th straight year in 2014 as consumers have become more health-conscious, according to Beverage Digest.
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Newman feels the soda pop space is looking a bit tired.
“Something 20 years ago, if you predicted this, everyone would have said you’re crazy. Bottled water is the big market share play here and of course it’s not just plain vanilla water anymore, its coconut water and cucumber water. We’re trying really hard for innovation in this space,” Newman notes.
The annual report by Beverage Digest showed that the broader beverage industry which includes bottled water increased 1.7% last year reversing a decline of 1.6% in 2013.
Yahoo Finance Senior Columnist Michael Santoli thinks soft drink makers are playing defense because the overall market is shrinking.
“The big companies are trying to kind of segment this market-- into 'OK, you don’t like the traditional calorie-free sweeteners because you think they’re bad for you. How about some of the more natural seeming sweeteners? You have the kind of Coke Life and all these other things…that basically are responding, to really the latest thinking or the latest fad in terms of what’s healthier, better or worse for you,” Santoli explains.
Yahoo Finance’s Aaron Task agrees that innovation is key, but points you can’t ignore the slight uptick in sales of regular Coke.
“There have been some stories recently about [Coca-Cola CEO] Muhtar Kent and the executive team at Coca-Cola…they’re betting bigger, they’re doubling down on soda, when a lot people are saying they need to diversify more and get away from it. Maybe they see something that the rest of don’t. That you know what…'maybe we can hold the 17.5% market share that we have and maybe take even a little bit more,'" he adds.
