Olivia Parker
Jun 11, 2019

Coke stuns Asia with near-total knockout of Pepsi except in Thailand

Coca-Cola reigns supreme among more than 470 beverage brands in Asia Pacific.

Coke stuns Asia with near-total knockout of Pepsi except in Thailand

CATEGORY ANALYSIS: BEVERAGES

In a rare display of near universal dominance, Coca-Cola reigns supreme across 13 of the 14 APAC markets surveyed, finishing behind its soft-drink rival Pepsi only in Thailand, where it slips to No. 2. This represents little change from 2018 apart from Coca-Cola's performance in Malaysia, which this year saw it overtake 100 Plus to become No. 1 there as well.

Competition for Asian consumers' second favourite soft drink is more intense and less clear-cut: Pepsi wins out in China, India and Vietnam, but Australia prefers Schweppes; Singapore and Malaysia root for 100 Plus; and Japan's unsurprising favourite is Suntory.

Coca-Cola remains a stalwart of the upper echelons of the the overall Top 1000 Brands ranking as well, hovering just outside the Top 10 brands at 12 this year, compared to 11 last year. Pepsi is much lower on the list at 98, and hasn't been higher than 80th since 2011, another reflection of Coke's dominance.

In the non-fizzy soft drink sector of fruit juice, a category killer has emerged this year in the form of Minute Maid, which has knocked Tropicana from its perch as Asia's favourite. China and Indonesia now say Minute Maid is their top fruit juice brand, yet another boon for Coca-Cola, the label's parent company.

Below these two, the top three juice brands in Asia are Sunkist, Del Monte and Mr. Juicy, in that order—no change from 2018 here. Thai brand Tipco moves up one spot from seventh to sixth position.

Rankings are more settled over in the mineral water category, where despite the impressive variation in local market favourites, the top five brands remain, in order: Evian, Coca-Cola (interestingly a brand that consumers pick for its water products, despite the brand name not appearing prominently on the company's water brands), Perrier, Aquafina (PepsiCo's water brand) and Watsons.

Schweppes made an impressive leap from 15th to 6th position in 2019, and is now Australia's top water brand, pushing out Mount Franklin in that market.

Australia also welcomes Lipton as a new top brand in tea, sending Twinnings into the second spot. Lipton remains Asia's favourite tea brand overall.

Don't miss the rest of our exclusive data and special reports:

Source:
Campaign Asia

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