The Greek market for soft drinks, which was showing signs of maturity a few years ago, is now exhibiting growth rates higher than the Western European average. The soft drinks market is very consolidated and dominated by products from The Coca-Cola Co. and Pepsi Co. However, product innovation and rising disposable incomes has pushed up per capita consumption and this trend is forecast by BMI to continue. In May 2008, The Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company, which holds the franchise to bottle Coca- Cola products in Greece, reported that its sales in the country increased by a healthy 7.0% in 2007.

This followed of growth of 3.1% in 2006 and can be compared to the period between 2003 and 2005 when the firm’s volume sales actually declined by 2%. This stagnation was also being registered by Coca-Cola’s competitors and led to suggestions that the soft drinks market was fully mature. However, the recent strong growth would suggest this is not the case and that the right products will still find a receptive audience. As in other mature soft drinks markets Greek consumers are turning away from carbonated soft drinks which are seen as unhealthy and instead drinking more juice based drinks, functional drinks and bottled water. Greece is a major European producer of fruit and the fruit juice segment has particular importance.

This is an area which has received particular attention from both Coca-Cola Hellenic and the Pepsi Bottling Group, which holds the franchise to bottled Pepsi Co products in the country Coca-Cola Hellenic owns Amita, the leading Greek juice brand, and in 2007 the firm launched new flavours and backed the brand with a new marketing campaign. This followed the launch of Amita smoothies in 2005 and a version with added anti-oxidants in 2006.

These innovations, which focus on products that offer health and functional benefits, are likely to be one of the key reasons why the firm has returned to growth over the last two years. Despite the growing importance of the juice category the Greek soft drinks sector is still dominated by cola products. The launch of Coke Zero in 2006, which contains no sugar and is targeted at male consumers, also boosted Coca-Cola Hellenic’s sales in 2006 and 2007 and continued innovation in the carbonated soft drinks category is also likely to play in part in driving growth, going forward.