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Wednesday, August 16, 2000
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Kofola looks to regain share of soft drink market after a decade of dwindling sales By Frantisek Bouc In the '70s, Kofola was the communist answer to Coca-Cola and Pepsi, and was the Czech Republic's most popular non-alcoholic beverage. After the Velvet Revolution in 1989, however, Kofola all but disappeared from the newly-liberalized market. The end of communism and the transition to a free market allowed commercial heavyweights such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi to swoop in and dominate a population infatuated with the Western products it had been denied under communism. But things are changing. While a historic low of 24 million liters of Kofola were sold in 1996, the beverage's sales reached 41 million liters last year. And, following a 16 million Kc ($405,000) advertising campaign last spring, sales are expected to climb to 50 million liters by the end of this year. The largest volume Kofola sold in its 38-year history was in 1972, when 179 billion liters were purchased. "Sirup Kofo, from which the drink is made, is one of our best-selling products nowadays," said Ales Martinek, head of the beverages and cosmetics department for Galena, the company that produces the syrup. "If the progress in sales development stays at its current pace, it could even compete successfully with the mighty Coke or Pepsi." The drink, a combination of cola and coffee flavors, with a licorice and lemon kick, was the product of the Communist Planning Committee, which sought to use a surplus of caffeine extracted from coffee beans. "Kofola was actually a desired product from an undesirable surplus," Martinek said. Soon after it went on the market in 1962, Kofola was sued by Coca-Cola for copyright infringement. The U.S.-based beveragemaker charged that Kofola's name was too close to Coca-Cola's own name brand. As a result, Kofola was unable to register the brand name as a protected trademark. But the company kept producing under the name Kofola in Czechoslovakia. After Czechoslovakia split in 1993, Kofola faced another trademark dispute in Slovakia. Four Slovak beverage companies sued, arguing that the name 'Kofola' could be used because it wasn't a registered trademark. Opava-based Galena won the dispute in 1994, however, and the name now is a trademark. Jannis Samaras, business director of Kofola distributor Santa napoje Krnov, said Kofola sold more in Slovakia than in the Czech Republic. "The Slovaks tend to buy bigger amounts in kegs and [Kofola] is then tapped in restaurants. The Slovaks also mix Kofola with alcohol more than the Czechs," Samaras said. He said that, despite the tough competition on the beverage market, Santa expects to expand Kofola's distribution and to start exporting it. Frantisek Bouc's e-mail address is fbouc@praguepost.cz More Business stories
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The Prague Post, a weekly newspaper published in the Czech Republic.
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