Coca-Cola to Produce, Distribute Bottled Dunkin’ Donuts Coffee

After several years of battle between Pepsi and Coca Cola it starts again but not with sodas but with coffee, Dunkin’ Brands Group Inc. said on Thursday that it would launch bottled Dunkin’ Donuts coffee in U.S. stores at the beginning of next year. The ready-to-drink coffee will be manufactured and distributed by Coca-ColaCo. Coke and Dunkin’ are taking aim at the fast-growing canned and bottled coffee market that has long been dominated by PepsiCo Inc. and Starbucks Corp., with their top-selling Starbucks Frappuccino.

To-Go Coffee sales are still a fraction of sodas and bottled water sales, mostly because people still prefer coffee hot and freshly brewed. But in the U.S. retail sales of ready-to-drink coffee rose 14% to $2.54 billion last year, the fourth straight year of at least 10% growth, according to the data service Euromonitor International.

The Starbucks-PepsiCo venture had a 75% market share last year, followed by Monster Beverage Corp., with 15%. Coke owns a minority stake in Monster and distributes but doesn’t make ready-to-drink coffee from Italy’s Illy Caffee SpA, which has less than a 1% market share in the U.S.

Finally, the ready-to-go coffee will have competition so maybe they will lower their prices!