Coca-Cola sells some of the most popular beverages in the world and it generally has the muscle to make any new products it sells successful.
Of course, there have been some pretty big Coca-Cola (KO) -) failures in recent years where the company has tried to capitalize on a trend. Few people remember Vault, an effort to compete with rival PepsiCo's (PEP) -) Mountain Dew. And 2009's Green Tea Coke never got enough attention to be remembered or forgotten.
Related: Coca-Cola adds new Coke and Sprite flavors that could be big hits
The company's biggest recent failure, however, might be Coca-Cola Energy, an attempt to take on Monster and Red Bull. That drink lasted less than a year before the company pulled the plug.
It was a surprising move because the idea of Coca-Cola Energy made sense. It was an attempt by the No. 1 beverage company to leverage its namesake brand to get into the exploding energy-drink market.
Consumers, however, were never that interested. They may have sampled it, but the product was never popular enough to win enough market share for Coke to commit to the product long term.
That same script has repeated in another explosively growing market. Coca-Cola launched its Aha sparkling-water brand to compete with market leaders LaCroix and Pepsi's Bubly. It was a massive launch — Coca-Cola's first brand debut since 2006 — that simply never captured the public's attention.
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Coca-Cola is largely winding down Aha
Sparkling water has been a growing category led by the massive success of LaCroix. It makes sense that Coca-Cola wanted to get in on the trend, but Aha has not made a significant market impact. The company thus has decided to wind down, but not fully eliminate, the brand.
"In 2024, the beverages will only be available in 'focused channels' and in Coca-Cola Freestyle machines, and will continue to be sold in Canada," the beverage giant told Food Dive.
Coca-Cola isn't giving up on sparkling water. The company intends to focus its attention on growing its premium Topo Chico brand in the same space.
Sales have fallen for Aha, which replaced Coca-Cola's previous effort in the sparkling-water space, Dasani Sparkling. The brand has less than a 2% share of the total market.
Coca-Cola executives have said that they believe Topo Chico can become the company's next billion-dollar brand. The company recently launched a hard-seltzer, an alcoholic version of the popular brand.
Coca-Cola sees some headwinds
Coca-Cola sales were flat by volume in the second quarter. Chief Executive James Quincey explained why in the company's Q2-earnings call.
"We have seen some willingness to switch to private-label brands in certain categories," he said. "Across the sector, consumers are increasingly cost-conscious. They're looking for value and stocking up on items on sale."
Quincey believes that Coca-Cola is well-positioned to handle the current market.
"Our pricing is largely in place and is expected to moderate as we cycle pricing initiatives from the prior year. It's more important than ever to be consumer-centric and to partner with customers to provide affordable and premium propositions, which deliver value through basket and incidence growth," he added.
And, while the company has been focused on growing sales outside soda, its namesake beverage continues to be a major driver.
"During the quarter, we gained volume and value share by linking Coca-Cola to consumption occasions and engaging consumers through local experiences. A great example is our Recipe for Magic, which was activated in more than 50 markets and celebrates consuming Coca-Cola with meals," he said.
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