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Seizing the moment
22 Apr 2021

By Vitaliy Novikov, Group Customer and Commercial Director, Coca-Cola HBC

If you think of any moment during the day, it is likely connected to a beverage. As normal life was turned upside down in 2020, everything - and nothing - about drinking moments changed. People continued to enjoy their favourite drinks, just differently. It was a year when consumers and customers adapted to a new reality. As this has become the norm in 2021, we've adapted to seize the moment.

Tapping into emerging drinking moments

Home is currently the centre of everything. Let's step inside and see how our routines have adapted. Settling into the working day, people still need to take breaks, but with no colleagues to chat to over coffee, they enjoy one at home, and make do with the cat for company. Wellbeing and staying healthy is more important than ever, so a hydrating drink after a work-out, or a ready to drink tea for some 'me time'' still hits the spot. As lunch shifts to the kitchen table, a refreshing beverage gets us ready for the afternoon ahead. And after a tiring day, it's time to unwind with a drink, spend time together, maybe stream a movie, enjoy gaming or a video chat with friends.


Our role in these daily moments is to ensure there is an extra special sparkle. From a business standpoint, this means shifting gears to make sure our portfolio fits the bill.

For example, as many more people enjoy virtual gatherings and recreating the bar experience at home by mixing their own cocktails, we make sure that premium adult sparkling brands are available in multi-pack single serves to enable this. As coffee enthusiasts invest in replicating a close-to-barista experience, precision, and expertise in their own kitchens, we offer them Roast & Ground and beans, pods, and Ready To Drink Coffee, with decaf options too. The focus on home fitness has also created an opportunity for functional water, enhanced with minerals, such as our new Aquarius brand which is now in 7 of our markets.

Unlocking value for our customers

Our customers in retail also need support as they adapt to new consumer behaviours. Many have streamlined their orders, focusing on brands that consumers feel most comfortable with. For us this meant helping them explore new routes to market and flexing our portfolio to make sure they have the right products and packs to sell.

As the pandemic fast-tracked consumer activities online - from banking to ordering food - we have also upped our game in e-commerce. We are sharing our online retail expertise with customers helping them reach their consumers and increase their spending and frequency of shopping. In the same direction, we have upgraded our online ordering platform to make it easier for customers to get our products onto their shelves.

We have also partnered with our bar, restaurant and hotel customers to speed up their home delivery services, by connecting them with available delivery partners, to create tailor-made food-and drink combinations, home cocktail mixer kits, and premium meals and drinks with home-cooking experiences. E-commerce is still a small part of our overall business, but activities like this have seen it double in the past two years.


Much of this responsiveness and tailored service for customers has been made possible by our investments in Big Data and Advanced Analytics, allowing us to identify customer needs in different locations and by type of outlet.

There is no doubt that this has been made possible by the willingness and ability of our people to adapt so that we can continue to be competitive in a fast-changing and unpredictable market to stay ahead of dynamic social trends. It's a continuous challenge, but that's also the beauty of our industry.

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Disclaimer

Coca-Cola HBC AG published this content on 22 April 2021 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 22 April 2021 13:44:02 UTC.