--- title: "Coca-Cola vs. Pepsi: Who Is the Real King of Carbonated Soft Drinks in China?" description: "Based on brand value rankings over the past three years, Coca-Cola has consistently held the upper hand. Coca-Cola was born first, with Pepsi following closely behind. The main carbonated drinks on the market today, including Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Sprite, Fanta, 7 Up, and Mirinda, all come from The Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo. Coca-Cola was born in the United States in 1886, during Prohibition, when an accidental discovery led to its creation as an alternative to alcoholic beverages. Since then, Coca-Cola has become the representative of authentic cola..." author: "New Distribution" publisher: "New Distribution" email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com" telephone: "+8615854817671" published: "2020-03-09" categories: "Consumer & Categories" language: "en" canonical: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/coca-cola-vs-pepsi-who-is-the-real-king-of-carbonated-soft-drinks-in-chi-cdc17fbe/" markdown: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/coca-cola-vs-pepsi-who-is-the-real-king-of-carbonated-soft-drinks-in-chi-cdc17fbe.md" original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/b5c9haSQOGABb44R5pwVGg" translation: "https://xinjignxiao.com/zh/articles/%E5%8F%AF%E5%8F%A3%E5%8F%AF%E4%B9%90vs%E7%99%BE%E4%BA%8B%E5%8F%AF%E4%B9%90-%E7%A9%B6%E7%AB%9F%E8%B0%81%E6%89%8D%E6%98%AF%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD%E7%9C%9F%E6%AD%A3%E7%9A%84%E7%A2%B3%E9%85%B8%E9%A5%AE%E6%96%99%E4%B8%80%E5%93%A5-cdc17fbe.md" attribution: "New Distribution — https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/coca-cola-vs-pepsi-who-is-the-real-king-of-carbonated-soft-drinks-in-chi-cdc17fbe/" citation: "New Distribution. “Coca-Cola vs. Pepsi: Who Is the Real King of Carbonated Soft Drinks in China?.” New Distribution, 2020-03-09. https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/coca-cola-vs-pepsi-who-is-the-real-king-of-carbonated-soft-drinks-in-chi-cdc17fbe/" usage_policy: "https://xinjignxiao.com/ai-policy.txt" --- # Coca-Cola vs. Pepsi: Who Is the Real King of Carbonated Soft Drinks in China? > Based on brand value rankings over the past three years, Coca-Cola has consistently held the upper hand. Coca-Cola was born first, with Pepsi following closely behind. The main carbonated drinks on the market today, including Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Sprite, Fanta, 7 Up, and Mirinda, all come from The Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo. Coca-Cola was born in the United States in 1886, during Prohibition, when an accidental discovery led to its creation as an alternative to alcoholic beverages. Since then, Coca-Cola has become the representative of authentic cola... **From the brand value rankings over the past three years, Coca-Cola has consistently held the upper hand.** Coca-Cola was born first, with Pepsi following closely behind. Currently, the main carbonated drinks on the market include Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Sprite, Fanta, 7 Up, and Mirinda, all from The Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo. Coca-Cola was born in the United States in 1886, when Prohibition was in effect. In an attempt to find a substitute for alcoholic beverages, Coca-Cola was born from an accidental discovery. Since then, Coca-Cola has become the representative of authentic cola and has held the number one share of the cola market. After Coca-Cola's success, Pepsi followed closely and is now Coca-Cola's biggest competitor. Subsequently, The Coca-Cola Company launched Fanta, Sprite, and other carbonated drinks, while PepsiCo launched 7 Up and others. **-01- Stable Brand Value Landscape: Coca-Cola Continues to Lead** From the brand value rankings over the past three years, Coca-Cola has consistently held the upper hand. These two leading beverage brands have been competing for over 120 years, and instead of collapsing, they have grown larger. According to the "2019 Global Top 25 Soft Drink Brands" ranking by Brand Finance, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and Red Bull still occupy the top three positions. Brands from PepsiCo, The Coca-Cola Company, and Nestlé Group hold the most positions on the list. It is worth noting that both The Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo have multiple brands on the list, making them the undisputed kings of beverages. In 2019, Coca-Cola had five brands on the list: Coca-Cola (ranked 1st), Sprite (6th), Fanta (9th), Minute Maid (16th), and Dasani (21st). PepsiCo had six brands: Pepsi (2nd), Gatorade (5th), Tropicana (10th), 7 Up (14th), Mirinda (19th), and Aquafina (23rd). **-02- PepsiCo Continues to Push Forward, Maintaining Revenue Scale Leadership** As the two giants of the global beverage industry, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have been fiercely competing in product formulas, supply chains, brand marketing, and business layout for years. According to sales data released by the two companies, Pepsi has surpassed Coca-Cola in sales in some cities, which is one of the reasons for PepsiCo's continued performance. In the first three quarters of 2019, PepsiCo's revenue exceeded $46.5 billion, while Coca-Cola's revenue was only $28.2 billion, with PepsiCo maintaining a lead in revenue scale. **-03- Accelerating Product Innovation: Coca-Cola's Net Profit Stands Out** Before 2016, although Coca-Cola's net revenue was lower than PepsiCo's, its total net profit was consistently higher. Between 2017 and 2018, Coca-Cola's total net profit dropped significantly, falling below PepsiCo for two consecutive years. This was related to Coca-Cola's integration of its product production chain. By effectively optimizing its supply chain, accelerating product innovation, and optimizing packaging and pricing mechanisms, Coca-Cola's total net profit grew by 23.6% to $6.88 billion in the first three quarters of 2019, once again surpassing PepsiCo's $5.55 billion. **-04- Coca-Cola Focuses on Horizontal Development, PepsiCo Adopts a Diversification Strategy** The reason why Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have high revenue but low net profit lies in their different business models. Coca-Cola has always been horizontally developed, focusing on the beverage business. In recent years, Coca-Cola has added Honest Tea organic tea, ZICO coconut water, Fairlife milk, and Topo Chico sparkling water to its brand portfolio. It has now shifted from a single cola product to a full range of beverages, including coffee, juice, functional drinks, water, enhanced water, and tea. For Coca-Cola, which is eager to reduce its dependence on carbonated drinks, it is accelerating its product portfolio adjustment through a series of external acquisitions. Unlike Coca-Cola, PepsiCo adopts a diversified development strategy. In recent years, PepsiCo has also been actively transforming its health business. In addition to beverages, it is also involved in the restaurant and snack food businesses, with sales from these segments accounting for nearly double that of its beverage business. **-05- Stable Duopoly Market Structure, with Coca-Cola Maintaining Its Leading Position** Currently, the duopoly competition in the carbonated beverage industry is very stable, with Coca-Cola and PepsiCo together holding the majority of the market. However, their market shares are not relatively balanced. Due to its first-mover advantage, channel advantages, brand advantages, and strategic focus on beverages, Coca-Cola has maintained a leading market share. According to Euromonitor data, in 2018, Coca-Cola held 46% of the global carbonated soft drink market, with Pepsi not even half of that. The difference is even greater in the domestic market: in 2018, Coca-Cola held 70.2% of the domestic carbonated beverage market, nearly three times that of Pepsi. **-06- Forward-Looking View: Coca-Cola Is Always the Real King of Carbonated Drinks in China** From the analysis above, it is clear that whether globally or in China, Coca-Cola holds a leading position and possesses strong brand value. Coca-Cola has five of the world's top 25 soft drink brands, giving it a significant competitive advantage. PepsiCo has been emphasizing non-carbonated drinks in recent years. According to Euromonitor, Coca-Cola held a 45.8% share of the $313 billion carbonated soft drink market in 2018, a share that has risen slightly in recent years, thanks to its well-known brands. Pepsi, in second place, held only 18.9%. In the domestic market, Coca-Cola's leading advantage is amplified. In 2018, Coca-Cola's market share in China's carbonated beverage market was over 70%, while Pepsi's was only 25.4%. Forward-looking analysis suggests that Coca-Cola has advantages in multiple dimensions, including domestic partners, bottling business development, resource allocation, channel coverage, and the speed of new product launches. This means Coca-Cola will gain relatively more market and development opportunities in China. Source: Qianzhan.com --- ## Citation metadata - Publisher: New Distribution - Author: New Distribution - Published: 2020-03-09 - Canonical: https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/coca-cola-vs-pepsi-who-is-the-real-king-of-carbonated-soft-drinks-in-chi-cdc17fbe/ - Original source: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/b5c9haSQOGABb44R5pwVGg ## Copyright and AI use This article is sourced from New Distribution. 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