A-ha. It was a daft name for a Norwegian synth-pop band. And it’s an even dafter name for a fizzy drink. Not that Coca-Cola seems to mind.
Aha, the company’s (hyphen-less) new seltzer brand, is set for US shelves to “meet evolving consumer demands and cut through a crowded category that continues to grow at a double-digit rate”. An eight-strong range of “bold flavour fusions” – including Lime & Watermelon, Strawberry & Cucumber and Black Cherry & Coffee – will be available from March in brightly coloured cans. Two of the variants contain caffeine.
It makes total sense for Coke to enter the seltzer market on its home turf. Sparkling water is a $5bn category in the US and likely to get much bigger very soon. Why wouldn’t one of the world’s largest soft drinks makers get in on the action – especially given its ambition to be a ‘total beverage’ supplier?
“Aha will be the first major brand launch in a decade for Coca-Cola North America,” according to Coke. “The rollout comes as Americans’ thirst for drinks without sugar or calories – but with fizz and flavour – continues to grow.”
What the company doesn’t say, however, is that Aha arrives at a troubled time for LaCroix, the leading US seltzer brand. In March, its owner, National Beverage Corp, reported its first quarterly sales fall in five years – a 27% tumble from $300m to $220m.
“We are truly sorry for these results,” said chairman and CEO Nick Caporella. “Negligence nor mismanagement nor woeful acts of God were not the reasons. Much of this was the result of injustice.” The ongoing class action lawsuit alleging LaCroix contains undeclared synthetic ingredients probably didn’t help either.
Coke obviously smelled blood in the water and attacked swiftly. Which is maybe why its shark-like launch of Aha feels a bit rushed; a bit like a pastiche rather than a serious effort at seltzer. The flavours are interesting, sure, but so are LaCroix’s. The cans are colourful – just like numerous brands in the US seltzer sector. And the name has a ‘will this do?’ feel.
In fact, the moniker is one of the reasons why Aha is unlikely to make its way to the UK soon. Twitter-using Brits would likely break the internet tweeting Alan Partridge gifs at the brand.
More seriously, LaCroix isn’t a big deal in this country (it isn’t listed by any of the main mults or discounters), so there’s no massive player to disrupt like there is Stateside.
That said, fizzy water’s booming here. It added 19.7% to its take-home value sales last year [Kantar 52 w/e 4 November 2018] amid a raft of launches such as Loveau, Something & Nothing and AG Barr’s Le Joli.
So, there’s an opportunity here for Coke, for sure – particularly if it introduces similar products as those in the US. It would bring something a little different from the UK’s burgeoning seltzer category. A caffeinated seltzer is likely to appeal to Brits, as will Aha’s bold flavours.
Nevertheless, the likes of Dash Water and Ugly needn’t fear a mauling by Coke. At least, not for a while.
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