Student Example
Dickinson State University
April 24, 2014
Author Note
This paper was prepared for Business Policy, taught by Holly Gruhlke.
Alternative Beverage Industry and Coca-Cola Analysis The alternative beverage industry, including sports drinks, energy drinks, and vitamin-enhanced beverages have developed into a key component of beverage companies’ brand lineup. Alternative beverages have been relied upon by companies such as Coca-Cola to sustain volume growth in mature markets where current customers are decreasing their intake of carbonated soft drinks (Business, 2013). Success within the alternative beverage industry is based upon the company’s ability to innovate, obtain brand loyalty, and capitalize on consumer trends. The competition from rival sellers within the alternative beverage industry is relatively fierce as there are a variety of competitors. Competitors include established companies such as PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Red Bull GmbH, and Hansen Natural Corporation and also new entrants that are all attempting to gain a foothold in terms of market share within the industry. The increased number of rivals, the limited sales growth, and low customer switching costs between the beverage companies has added to the rivalry between competitors as there is less money available for competitors to compete for. The alternative beverage industry has a strong force of rivalry due to the great number of competitors all fighting for limited consumer dollars. The alternative beverage industry has a variety of options for substitutes depending on the specific item that they are looking to substitute for. Substitute products may include bottled water, fresh coffee, assortment of juices, dairy products, and carbonated products. Each of the substitute products pose low switching costs and some of the substitutes are also more price friendly to customers, for example substituting black coffee