Soft drinks giant Coca-Cola has launched a new variant of its Minute Maid juice brand. Minute Maid Pulpy was unveiled in Kenya on Thursday by Mr Peter Njonjo, the general manager of Coca-Cola East Africa.
Speaking during the lannch at the company’s headquarters in Nairobi, Mr Njonjo said the juice would boost its sales. “This is affirmation of our commitment to continue leading innovation in the non-alcoholic ready to drink category,” he said. “We are not only targeting a large market, but also looking at how we can improve the Kenyan economy by creating jobs.”
Made from orange pulp, which five years ago was viewed as a by-product of orange juice concentrate, Minute Maid Pulpy is packaged in a returnable glass bottle. The company launched the Pulpy juice in 2005 in emerging markets.
In 2010 Minute Pulpy Orange reached $1 billion in global retail sales, Mr Njonjo said, uoting the company’s global figures, and become Coca-Cola’s 14th billion dollar brand. Pulpy is available in 18 countries, across three continents, including Asia, Africa and South America.
The company targets at least 25 countries by the end of 2012. Coca-Cola Kenya Marketing Manager Catherine Mudachi said the product is produced at Coast Bottlers in Mombasa. The production line in Mombasa was part of Coca-Cola’s Sh5 billion expansion plan announced last April over a period of two years.
“The juice is available in Nairobi and Mombasa, but we want to cover the whole country by the end of the year,” she said. Mr Njonjo added that the company was not only focusing on the market, but also working with small-scale mango and passion farmers to bring 54,000 farmers into its supply chain while doubling their incomes. The juice will retail at Kshs35.
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