BEIJING, Aug. 11 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Calcol Inc
(OTC Bulletin Board: CLCL), a Cleveland Ohio USA based soft drinks company
which operates a large soft drink bottling plant in Beijing, announced this
week in an interview with Xinhua Finance's Andrew Pasek that it has launched a
China-wide marketing campaign for the diet flavours of its Malibu-Cola Company,
including not only Malibu-Cola, but also Malibu Sunrise Orange, Malibu Surf's
Up Lemon Lime, Malibu Verry Cherry Cola, Malibu Golden Apple, Malibu White
Grape, and Malibu Kiwi Strawberry. The emphasis of the campaign will be the
health benefits of diet soft drinks for China's health conscious consumers who
are concerned about the increased risk of diabetes and obesity in their
children and the population at large.
''We understand that diet soft drinks are not just for Americans,'' says
Calcol's Chairman Norman Kaplan, a Harvard-trained physicist and biologist,
''The Chinese people are very sophisticated and highly educated, and have
become acutely-aware that they run the increasing risk of the health effects
of obesity and diabetes and heart disease which may come with adopting the
dietary habits of Americans, and they, the Chinese customers (and the market)
tell us that they want and deserve a healthier alternative to many of their
dietary choices, including many choices of flavors in soft drinks which are
sugar-free."
Calcol Inc. has so far focused its marketing efforts on Beijing and the
northeast city of Tianjin and the Company said it now has around an overall 5%
share in those markets; although Norman Kaplan, the Company's Chairman added,
''We are now getting one third of the shelf space with Coke and Pepsi in many
of the hypermarkets like Carrefour, Tesco and Wal-Mart where our products are
sold.''
Malibu-Cola, produced and sold in the China market under exclusive license
from Calcol Inc., first appeared in Beijing and Tianjin supermarkets and in
nearby Hebei province just three years ago, but only entered the major
international hypermarkets in the past year. Because of the success of its
distribution through the major hypermarkets, Calcol's Chairman and president,
Mr Kaplan is already setting his sights on becoming a market leader in China
and directly taking on the world's two carbonated soft drink giants --
Coca-Cola and Pepsi.
Regarding the new marketing campaign, Mr Kaplan stated, ''I see our focus
on diet soft drinks making us a leader in the beverage industry in China. I
see no barriers, as all our products in China will be available in both diet
and regular varieties." He continued, ''Coke and Pepsi derive the bulk of
their earnings in China from sugared soft drinks, predominantly three flavors,
cola, orange, and lemon-lime and offer sugar-free options only for their
flagship cola products. We are already offering 7 different flavors in both
diet and regular versions for the Chinese consumers to enjoy.''
Calcol believes that ''regular soft drinks sweetened with sugar or high
fructose corn syrup, consumed in moderation, have a place as part of a healthy
diet of a healthy adult who eats a balanced diet of proteins, meat, fish and
eggs, skim milk, cereals and grains, and fruits and vegetables, and who
exercises regularly.'' But the Company agrees with the recommendations of the
American Beverage Association and the recent study by the Harvard School of
Public Health, which recommends that ''diet soft drinks are probably a
healthier choice, particularly if consuming more than one 12-ounce can per
day''.
Comparing Malibu-Cola products to their competitors their most obvious
advantage in addition to greater variety of flavors, is price. "We retail 20-
25% cheaper than Coke and Pepsi in the China market," Kaplan said, ''And even
a tiny price gap is enough to drive sales in China. China is a very price
sensitive market, as a small difference, 1 RMB (about 12.5 cents US) in the
cost of our 2-liter product compared with the competition, at Wal-Mart, Tesco,
Carrefour, Trust-Mart, Bonjour, Lotus, or Ren Ren Le, is enough to pay the bus
fare for our customers to get home from the supermarket with their 2 Liter
bottle of Malibu-Cola or Malibu Lemon Squeeze," he said.
But price alone will not result in big gains in market share. According
to Calcol, Chinese consumers read labels, study ingredients, want new sugar-
free products, and are more interested than ever in what goes into their
bodies. Kaplan said, ''I believe that, in China, health and cost-conscious
consumers will switch to our drinks as our diet products contain non-sugar
sweeteners aspartame or sucralose/ace-K."
When interviewed by Xinhua Finance's Andrew Pasek about Malibu-Cola's
marketing campaign to promote the health benefits of diet soft drinks in China,
Dr. Barry R. Bloom, dean of the Harvard School of Public Health said, ''An
emphasis on diet (sugar-free) products, especially in soft drinks consumed by
young adults, is an effective way to slow rates of obesity and Adult Onset
Type II diabetes in China. One form of sugar in our diet that is completely
avoidable is sugared sodas, which are a major cause of obesity. Artificially
sweetened diet soft drinks are a viable option.'' Dr. Bloom applauded Calcol's
leadership position.
Calcol's Malibu-Cola marketing campaign will first focus on the
northeastern regions in China, and then expand South to Shanghai and Shenzhen
in China as early as next month through its sales and distribution contracts
with Tesco, Carrefour, Wal-Mart, Trust-Mart, Lotus, Bonjour, Ren Ren Le and
other major retailers. "The diet campaign will begin in the north, and then
expand to Shanghai and the northeast where we will have established sales
networks. By 2008, we estimate that 25 pct of our sales will be in the diet
segment," Kaplan said. While the current Beijing plant has capacity for 13
million standard cases of PET bottles and cans, and 800,000 units of
concentrate (enough concentrate to produce 1.68 billion liters of finished
carbonated soft drinks); plans have been made for a second bottling and
canning plant in Shenzhen in south China, penetration into Shanghai with a
third plant there, and nationwide distribution of its products within the next
two years. Already the company is seeing its products reaching North to
Harbin in Manchuria, East to Jianan and Tsingtao in Shandong Province, and
South to Xian where the clay soldiers are in Shanxi Province.
About Calcol Inc
Malibu-Cola is produced under an exclusive license from Calcol Inc.
Calcol, which has shares trading under the symbol ''CLCL'' on the OTC
Bulletin Board in the US, succeeded at securing one of three business licenses
for manufacturing of foreign-branded soft drinks in China and says it is
rapidly capturing market share from the other two major higher-priced American
brands.
Its recent expansion into 160 large retail stores in China, including
nationwide sales and distribution agreements with Tesco, Carrefour, Wal-Mart,
Lotus, Trust-Mart, Bonjour, and Ren Ren Le, marks the
start of a major business development cycle with China-based revenues
expected to grow to 16.9 million USD and operating profits projected at 2
million USD by 2008.
For more information, please contact:
CALCOL INC. MALIBU-COLA BEVERAGE CO. LTD.
Beijing East Yanjiao Economic & Technical Development Zone,
Beijing, China 101601
Norman C. Kaplan, Chairman
Tel: +86-10-6159-4104
Fax: +86-10-6159-2166
Email:
[email protected]
SOURCE Calcol Inc
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