The Coca-Cola Amatil Ltd (ASX: CCL) share price fell 3.4% to $8.91 today after media reports claimed that it has suffered a double blow with two major clients going off the fizzy drinks maker.
It has been reported that fast growing pizza franchisor and takeaway store operator Domino's Pizza Enterprises Ltd (ASX: DMP) has committed the sacrilegious act of dumping Coca-Cola in favour of its rival Pepsi Co. According to a Deutsche Bank numbers cruncher this could reduce Coca-Cola's coke drinks volumes by up to 3%.
The other bad news is that major supermarket client Woolworths Limited (ASX: WOW) is reportedly refusing to stock Coca-Cola's latest "Coca-Cola No Sugar" product that is being lined up to replace Coke Zero.
The blunt "No Sugar" marketing message from Coca-Cola Amatil is in response to consumers' growing avoidance of sugary diets and especially sugar-heavy fizzy drinks. In fact multiple European countries have gone as far to implement a "sugar tax", with several U.S. cities reportedly implementing a "soda tax" as well.
It's possible that Australia may introduce a sugar tax as well, with the Greens Party said to be in favour of taxing sugary products rather than just encouraging people to stop sitting on their backsides.
