Coca-Cola to Increase Japan Vending Sites
May 08, 2011
TOKYO -- Coca-Cola Co. of the U.S. hopes to boost its distribution network in Japan over the next two years by adding 150,000 new vending machines, bringing the total number of Coca-Cola machines in Japan to one million. Michaele W. Allena, president of Coca-Cola (Japan) Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of Coca-Cola, said the move is in response to anticipation of numerous new sites for vending machines opening up in the country over the medium term. This is because Japan's beer industry is moving toward eventually removing all beer-vending machines from the streets. Public criticism asserts that the easy access to alcoholic beverages provided by thousands of these machines is encouraging underage drinking. Coca-Cola's plan, which will be completed by the end of 2013, will further solidify the company's already dominant position in vending machine-based distribution in Japan. Suntory Ltd., with the second-biggest number of soft-drink vending machines, has about 240,000 such machines. Mr. Allena said Coca-Cola's continued focus on vending machines as its main distribution channel -- which accounts for 55% of its sales in Japan -- is because they are immune to discounting of soft drinks. ``It's an access-driven, not price-driven, market,'' he said.
