Strategic Issues and Problems

Strategic Issues and Problems
Cadbury Schweppes is an important player in the American soft drink market where American consumers drink more soft drinks than tap water. In conjunction with population growth and rising per capita consumption there was an estimated $43 billion in retail sales in 1989. However, trend data suggests that sales of diet drinks accounted for a large portion of the overall growth of carbonated drink sales in the 1980s with supermarket sales the key to successful soft drink marketing.
Despite being the fourth largest soft drink marketer in the United States, 71.4% of the total market was produced by Coca Cola, PepsiCo or Dr. Pepper/7up. However, Cadbury has carved out a niche in the non-cola segment of the soft drink industry where their brands were often the market leader in their specific categories. With their acquisition of Crush in 1989, Cadbury controlled 22% of the orange category of the soft drink market through Crush and Sunkist. The orange category ...