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Coca-Cola Aha is the first new Coca-Cola North America brand in 10 years
Coca-Cola North America is adding a new sparkling water brand, Aha, to its lineup in March 2020.
Created in about six months, Aha will be the beverage giant’s first new brand in a decade.
Aha will come in eight flavors including lime and watermelon, strawberry and cucumber, and blueberry and pomegranate. The black cherry and coffee and citrus and green tea flavors will each have 30 milligrams of caffeine.
The flavors were determined after a test of 800 potential candidates and 50 combinations.
Aha will replace Dasani Sparkling at retailers, though Dasani Sparkling will still be available through other channels like Coca-Cola Freestyle. Dasani Sparkling has been sold since 2014.
Dasani is part of Coca-Cola’s KO, -1.16% portfolio of still water, which also includes Smartwater. Coca-Cola will add flavored Smartwater in 2020 as well, with flavors like strawberry-blackberry and pineapple-kiwi among the options.
With health and wellness a focus for consumers, sparkling water has been a category of growth as sugary traditional sodas have declined.
Coca-Cola quotes Nielsen data showing 27% sales growth in Coca-Cola North America’s sparkling water brands. Among those brands are Smartwater Sparkling and Topo Chico, a sparkling mineral water from Mexico.
“Our partners told us, ‘We don’t need yet another lime or berry-flavored sparkling water. We need something fresh and new that can help grow the category’,” said Julie Siwemuke, sparkling water director at Coca-Cola North America, in a statement.
Coca-Cola North America’s last brand debut was Gold Peak, a tea brand, in 2006. The company says Gold Peak is now a billion-dollar brand.
Coca-Cola Co. is launching Coca-Cola Energy in the U.S. in January 2020. Energy drinks are another growing beverage category, with big names including Red Bull and Monster Beverage Corp. MNST, +0.57% among the top players.
PepsiCo Inc. PEP, -0.85% sparkling water brands include Bubly and Izze, a brand that combines fruit juice with sparkling water.
Read: Molson Coors wants to make ‘Miller Time’ cool for millennials
National Beverage Corp. FIZZ, -9.35% , the company behind La Croix, skyrocketed in popularity, but has seen its stock lose 56% of its value in the last year in the face of lawsuits.
Coca-Cola stock has gained 10.4% for the year to date while the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.89% is up nearly 19% for the period.
