Coke Energy will no longer be available in North America

Coca-Cola is stopping the distribution of Coke Energy in North America

Coke Energy will no longer be available in North America 1

Coca-Cola has announced that Coke Energy is being discontinued in North America, just over a year after it hit store shelves.

Launched in January 2020, Coke Energy is made with guarana extracts, B-vitamins, and over three times the amount of caffeine of a traditional Coke. It comes in four varieties in North America, including Coke Energy, Coke Energy Zero Sugar, Coke Energy Cherry, and Coke Energy Cherry Zero Sugar.

Dubbed as “the biggest Coca-Cola innovation of 2020,” Coke Energy was even promoted in a 60-second commercial starring Martin Scorsese and Jonah Hill during the broadcast of Super Bowl LIV. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, altered Coca-Cola’s business strategy, and Coke Energy is the latest beverage to get the axe as part of its efforts to streamline its portfolio and focus on drinks that are selling well.

“An important component to this strategy is the consistent and constant evaluation of what’s performing and what’s not,” Coca-Cola said in a statement. “As we scale our best innovations quickly and effectively, like AHA and Coca-Cola with Coffee, we need to be disciplined with those that don’t get the traction required for further investment.”

According to Bloomberg, Coca-Cola’s decision to stop distributing Coke Energy in North America could ease tensions between the company and Monster Beverage Corp., which opposed the energy drink right off the bat. Coca-Cola is a major shareholder of Monster Beverage Corp., so when Coca-Cola revealed its plan to release its own energy, Monster Beverage Corp. quickly made its opposition known. The two companies went to arbitration over the issue, but a tribunal ultimately decided that Coca-Cola releasing Coke Energy was not a violation of the contract between the two companies.

While discontinued in North America, Coke Energy will continue to be available in other markets across the world.

Sources: CNN, Reuters, WGN-TV, Bloomberg
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