Coca-Cola Discontinues Juice Brand Odwalla and Delivery Network

The Coca-Cola Company has made the decision to discontinue its juice and smoothie brand Odwalla and dissolve its chilled delivery network at the end of July. The announcement has been made in light of a “rapidly shifting marketplace and despite every effort to support continued production and delivery services,” said Coca-Cola in an emailed statement to FoodBev. Founded in California in 1980, Odwalla currently offers over 20 different products including zero-sugar smoothies, and Smoobucha, a smoothie and pasteurised kombucha blend. In 2001, Odwalla was acquired by Coca-Cola for $181 million and became a wholly-owned subsidiary of the beverage giant. In addition to its Odwalla brand, Coca-Cola is discontinuing its chilled direct store delivery (DSD) distribution network that delivers fresh drinks to stores. According to a Coca-Cola spokesperson, the “decision was not made lightly and comes at a time when it is more important than ever to evaluate where we can improve efficiencies in our business and operations”. In a conference call discussing Coca-Cola’s Q1 results, CEO James Quincey said: “For our retail customers, grocery stores, for example, we’re focused on maximising system efficiency by ruthlessly prioritising to deliver on core SKUs and key brands, and help customers simplify their supply chains.”