Coca-Cola reduces its HK cans by 7 per cent, citing the rising prices of aluminium as reason.
Coca-Cola, the world’s biggest soft drinks maker, has shrunk the size of canned drinks in Hong Kong to cope with high raw material prices.
Coca-Cola, Coke Light, Coke Zero, Coke with lemon flavour, Fanta, Sprite, Sprite Zero and Schweppes Cream Soda are now being sold in 330ml cans – 7 per cent smaller than the previous 355ml – Apple Daily reported yesterday.
Prices remain the same, however, at HK$19.90 (S$3.47) for an eight-can pack.
The new canned drinks started selling early this month, said Mr Kenth Kaerhoeg, communications director for Coca-Cola Asia-Pacific.
“The main driver is aluminium,” he told Bloomberg News yesterday.
Aluminium prices have jumped 25 per cent this year, as power shortages in China and South Africa have led to production cuts, Bloomberg reported.
The new can is the most commonly used size in the world, and the move will align products with those sold in Europe, Mr Kaerhoeg said. Coca-Cola products sold in Singapore also come in the 330ml size.
Mr Kaerhoeg did not specify savings or say if sizes in the rest of Asia could be cut. In Japan and Taiwan, for example, Coca-Cola is still sold in cans of 350ml.
The cost-cutting move, while criticised by consumers, is similar to measures adopted by companies such as Kellogg as they struggle with a global shortfall of raw materials.
Last month, the US food giant started shipping Apple Jacks, Cocoa Krispies, Corn Pops, Froot Loops and Honey Smacks containing an average of 68g less per box.
“Every single company in the food and beverage industry has been doing things to their packaging since last year because the price of raw materials has risen so much,” Ms Fiona Wong, a consumer analyst at Sun Hung Kai Securities, told Bloomberg.
“They are trying to standardise packaging to keep costs low. They will switch to a cheaper material if they can.”
Even carmakers such as Toyota are slimming their products.
The Japanese manufacturer hopes to shed 10 per cent of its mid-sized vehicle’s weight by the mid-2010s.
While Coca-Cola’s gambit is not new, some Hong Kongers are still miffed that they are getting less Coke for their buck.
Lawmaker Fred Li, an avid Coke fan who drinks five cans of Coke Zero a week, said Coca-Cola’s move was “less than honest”, Apple Daily reported yesterday.
“Shouldn’t prices be lowered accordingly since the can is smaller now?” Mr Li was quoted by the newspaper as saying.
Professor Leo Sin, a marketing expert at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said the size-reduction was the same as a price hike – minus the usual consumer backlash.
“Many consumers wouldn’t detect the difference,” he told Apple Daily.
Coca-Cola, however, said it had informed retailers about the change two months ago.
This article was first published in The Straits Times on July 25, 2008.