What are CCAs plans for its Australian and New Zealand juice business?
The development of the Rio Beverages juice brands, in a little over 15 months, has exceeded our expectations. The strong resutls have come from flavour and package innovation, key account volume growth, cold drink merchandising and integration savings. Juice now represents 12% of our New Zealand volume. We expect that our New Zealand juice experience will be beneficial in expanding CCA’s current small share of Australia’s $1 billion ready-to-drink juice category. CCA’s purchase of Crusta Fruit Juices in October 2004 provides a platform for CCA to build a presence in the premium juice market in Australia. The acquisition provides CCA with good access to fruit, local expertise in premium juice, an efficient cold chain distribution network and a juice manufacturing facility located in the important orange growing area in the Riverland, South Australia. The Australian juice category has often lacked innovation and over 60% of juice is sold in supermarkets for at home consumption. Australia
