Despite Coke No Sugar being tipped to replace Coke Zero, it would appear that consumers have other ideas.
In some countries, Coke Zero is no longer available for purchase on shelves, however in Australia it is still taking up more shelf space than Coke No Sugar, reported News.com.au.
It seems that the desire to hold onto Coke Zero by most supermarkets is down to consumer demand.
Coca-Cola Amatil (CCA) chief executive Alison Watkins told News.com.au that the transition from one product to the other was particularly difficult in Australia, because consumers had taken Coke Zero to their hearts.
Coke No Sugar was plagued by a troubling launch in June 2017, when Woolworths originally refused to stock it.
University of Adelaide branding expert Dr Dean Wilkie said Coca-Cola had a history of launch misfires.
“I would have thought Coke would have learned that people are passionate about the products they use,” he told news.com.au.
“They had a very unsuccessful launch with Coke Life so there is probably some scepticism with shoppers that (No Sugar) will be satisfactory.”
“Woolworths and Coles may be able to sense CCA’s desperation in a declining category. They might have said, ‘If you want to get rid of Zero we want better margins,’ because of concerns (No Sugar) might be a dud.
“The success of this transition will rely on retailers but those retailers can really hamper it,” he said.
Woolworths has said that they will continue to stock Coke No Sugar.
A spokesperson for Woolworths told News.com.au that due to consumer demand, Coke Zero would continue to be stocked beside Coke No Sugar until it was removed from supply.