Coca-Cola Amatil unifies its alcohol, coffee & soft drinks businesses

The company’s Australian business will return to growth in 2020 and will likely help realize its mid-single-digit profit growth targets.

Coca-Cola Amatil Ltd. (CCA), the leading bottlers of ready-to-drink non-alcoholic beverages, is reportedly restructuring its operations along geographic lines with an intent to cut costs and boost synergy benefits. According to experts, the move may affect the performances of its carbonated water, soft drink, alcoholic beverage and coffee businesses.

As per reports, the new organizational structure will witness the Australian-based coffee and alcohol operations merger with the Australian beverages team under the guidance of its managing director Peter West. Additionally, alcohol and coffee in Fiji, New Zealand and Samoa, the international alcohol sales team will be under the leadership of Chris Litchfield, Managing Director of NZ and Kadir Gunduz, MD Papua New Guinea will oversee coffee in Indonesia.

Reportedly, Ms. Alison Watkins, Group Managing Director, CCA, had split the company’s Australian alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages businesses with an intent to focus strongly on the strategy and performance of each businesses.

She claims that the coffee and alcohol business has served the company well as separate businesses over the past five years, with delivering a double-digit earnings growth. However, the firm feels that it is the right time to merge these businesses back together.

For the record, the splitting of coffee, alcohol and soft drinks in 2014 was a result of the company’s commitment to strengthen its relationship with its major supplier and 30 percent stakeholder, the Coca-Cola Co.

Sources cite that the new changes would significantly cut costs and develop synergies among the alcohol, coffee and non-alcohol operations while strengthening its existing shared operations. Meanwhile, Ms. Watkins claims that the Australian business will return to growth in 2020 and will enable their firm to achieve its mid-single-digit profit growth targets.

Source credit: https://www.afr.com/companies/manufacturing/coca-cola-amatil-merges-soft-drinks-alcohol-and-coffee-20190909-p52pbo