The American soft drink giant, The Coca-Cola Company, withdrew its popular soda brands from Russia in 2022. Since then, you could no longer quench your thirst with an ice-cold Coca-Cola or buy Fantas and Sprites at the local supermarket.
Now, the company has taken steps to re-register these trademarks in the country.
In April, Coca-Cola submitted three applications to the Federal Service for Intellectual Property (Rospatent) for these brands, as reported by Vedomosti.
Background and Recent Developments
In March 2022, Coca-Cola announced the suspension of its operations in Russia due to the onset of the war in Ukraine. The company ceased production and sales of its international brands in Russia, redirecting its focus to local brands.
By the end of July 2022, Coca-Cola HBC Eurasia LLC, the company's Russian division, rebranded to Multon Partners LLC. They introduced "Good Cola," a locally produced analogue of Coca-Cola which differs in taste due to a different recipe.
Despite the differences, Good Cola quickly captured the market share previously held by Coca-Cola.
The Good Cola brand saw its market share grow from 2.8% to 25% between 2022 and 2023, becoming the leader in its segment, according to Ntech.
Meanwhile, the market share of Coca-Cola in Russia plummeted from 20% to 4.8%, Fanta from 3.1% to 0.2%, and Sprite from 1.7% to 0%.
Financial Performance
Multon Partners reported a 4% revenue increase in 2023 compared to 2022, reaching approximately $1 billion. The net profit also surged to $130 million, up from $52 million the previous year.
For comparison, in 2021, Coca-Cola HBC Eurasia LLC earned approximately $1.2 billion in revenue, with a net profit of approximately $87 million.
Coca-Cola's move to re-register its trademarks indicates a potential strategy to maintain a foothold in the Russian market despite previous withdrawals.
The company's Russian division has not commented on this development.
