New York, May 28 - Coca-Cola Co and Italian coffee roaster illycaffe SpA expect coffee drinkers around the world to buy their new high-end canned coffee drinks despite a global economic slowdown that has many people cutting back on impulse purchases.
"We still believe that despite the current economic environment, it's going to do well and continue to grow," said Coke Chief Executive Muhtar Kent on Thursday at a press conference where the companies discussed Ilko Coffee International, a joint venture they formed more than a year ago to sell "illy issimo" canned coffee drinks.
Illycaffe Chairman Andrea Illy said the recession was changing people's coffee habits.
"People go less to coffee shops and this represents a huge opportunity to intercept consumption in other places with other products," Illy said.
Illy issimo drinks are now sold in 15 countries, largely in Europe, and Coke said it expects to be in 20 by the end of the year. The drinks recently launched in the United States, with distribution in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco.
The U.S. market, worth roughly $2 billion, is dominated by the joint venture of PepsiCo Inc and Starbucks Corp that sells bottled Starbucks Frappuccino and Doubleshot espresso drinks.
Coke's illy issimo drinks, which include an espresso, a latte macchiato and a cappuccino beverage, cost about $2.69, or about 15 percent more than the Starbucks drinks, the company said. It is targeting upscale locations such as Whole Foods Market Inc.
The drinks will soon launch in Japan, which the companies said accounts for three-fourths of the roughly $17.4 billion market for ready-to-drink coffee beverages.
The brand now has about 17 percent market share in the 10 countries that made up its initial launch, such as Croatia, Greece and Ukraine.
"Our objective is to achieve leadership -- and that will be at least 30 percent market share globally of the ready-to-drink coffee business around the world," Kent said.