Coke Boosts Lead Over Pepsi in Soft Drink War

Coca-Cola Co. slightly increased its lead over rival Pepsi-Cola Co. in 2002, thanks to the successful launch of Vanilla Coke and the growth of Diet Coke, according to U.S. soft drink industry rankings released Monday.

Coke gained 0.6 percentage point in market share and increased its case volume by 2.1%, according to Beverage Digest/Maxwell, a New York-based industry newsletter and data service.

The company captured a larger share of the market even though its Coke Classic brand fell 0.6 percentage point.

Atlanta-based Coca-Cola dominates 44.3% of the U.S. soft drink market but saw its market share drop between 1999 and 2001. With the latest gains, it’s 0.2 percentage point away from where it stood in 1998, 44.5%.

Pepsi-Cola, a unit of Purchase, N.Y.-based PepsiCo Inc., lost 0.2 percentage point in market share. The No. 2 company commands 31.4% of the U.S. soft drink market.

The Dr Pepper/Seven Up unit of Cadbury Schweppes, the third-largest soft drink group, fell 0.6 percentage point in market share to 15%.

“The only top 10 brands that grew were several of the diet brands,” said John Sicher, editor and publisher of Beverage Digest. “At least one reason is because consumers are interested in low- or no-calorie beverages.”

Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi gained 0.2 percentage point apiece.

Shares of Coca-Cola fell 82 cents to $39.82 on the New York Stock Exchange. Shares of PepsiCo fell 57 cents to $38.83, also on the NYSE.

Separately, Coke said it formed a partnership with Citigroup Inc. and MasterCard International Inc. to offer a payroll card to restaurant and hotel industry employees.

Coca-Cola will get a percentage of the transaction fees paid to Citigroup and MasterCard by merchants that accept the cards.

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Associated Press and Bloomberg News were used in compiling this report.