Australia | Jun 14 2006
By Rudi Filapek-Vandyck
Coca-Cola Amatil (CCL) has informed its various distributors it will increase wholesale prices for its soft drinks from this month onwards.
The communication has been confirmed by a spokesperson for the company who clarified the wholesale price increase is for the whole range of Coca Cola Amatil beverages, including the successfully launched Coke Zero, for all distribution channels, but only in Australia (not New Zealand).
According to one distributor outside the supermarket sector, the announced price rise will amount to 8-9% but the company spokesperson said while she could not provide FN Arena News with the exact details, the average price increase would be in the order of 4-5% across all channels and for all products combined.
Coca-Cola Amatil management already flagged earlier it would seek to pass on some of its higher production costs to the consumer as it has been absorbing 30% higher input costs due to increased prices for aluminium and sugar, among other things.
Some securities analysts have been flagging some pressure on the company’s volume sales in the months ahead because of high petrol prices, however, the company spokesperson said the company hasn’t noticed any such impact over the past few years.
She said of higher importance to the company’s volume sales were "sunny weather" and whether the competition was willing to follow the proposed price increase or not.