While Pepsi and Est expend their resources battling over a house divided, Coca Cola, long a second-place contender in Thailand’s soda scrum, has maneuver to gain the top spot in the country’s carbonated drink market.
Research released by ACNielsen reveals that Coke has seen momentous, year-on-year growth in its market share, taking advantage of ground lost by Pepsi thanks to its highly publicized split with bottler-distributor Sermsuk, which went on to launch the Est line of sodas.
By the end of 2012, Coke commanded a 50% share of Thailand’s soda market, whereas Pepsi controlled only 34%. Those figures represent a 23% year-on-year growth in sales for Coke.
Perhaps even more significant is the explosive growth Est has shown in the first months of 2013. Last month, Est commanded a 19% market share, surpassing the share commanded by its former partner, Pepsi, which came in at only 15%.
Coke, for its part, has no plans to abandon the top spot.
The Bangkok Post reports that Thai Amianthus, the local bottler and distributor of Coca Cola, plans to invest THB2.6 billion in upgrading its factories this year, increasing its overall production capacity by 35%.
