Russian alternative overtakes historic Coca-Cola sales

Russian soft drinks brand Dobry overtook Coca-Cola in sales on the domestic market in January-August 2023, news website RBK reported on Thursday, citing a study by NielsenIQ.

The Dobry Cola brand is produced at factories that belonged to Coca-Cola HBC Russia, the bottler of the original drink.

According to the report, Dobry came in second in the ranking of the 50 most popular FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) brands. Based on the results of the first eight months, the brand’s share in total sales on the FMCG market is 1.2%, the study showed. The original Coca-Cola did not make it into the top 50 brands in Russia, despite finding its way into the sanctioned country through parallel imports.

Previously, Coca-Cola was the largest beverage brand in Russia in terms of sales. It was ranked sixth by NielsenIQ in 2021, with a share of 0.9%. The Dobry brand, which produced only juices at the time, was in 15th place with a sales share of 0.5%.

Coca-Cola announced plans to suspend business in Russia last March, joining the exodus of Western brands amid Ukraine-related sanctions. The US company had operated 10 factories in Russia, producing soft drinks including Fanta, Sprite and Schweppes, along with local brands.

The NielsenIQ study found that tobacco giant Winston was the top brand in the ranking, with a share of total sales of 2.2%.

A total of 7,337 new brands were launched on the Russian market in January-August 2023, compared with 6,942 in the same period of 2022. “For the second year in a row this number exceeds the average values of previous years,” the report stated.

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