Coca-Cola boosts Powerade production in Australia

13-Aug-2024 - Last updated on 13-Aug-2024 at 16:01 GMT

Powerade grew an impressive 12% in Australia over the last year. As a result, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners is ramping up production capabilities for the sports drink with its largest ever investment in Australian manufacturing.

Already a key drink in the sports drink category, Powerade is riding the wave as consumers increasingly look to drinks with functional benefits and increased hydration - with sports drinks seeing particular growth.

In Australia, the brand grew 12% over the last financial year (2023-2024) and that momentum is expected to continue as the nation looks to better hydration.

That's being driven by new innovations in flavors and low sugar variants, and partnerships with key sporting events at both a global and local level.

Coca-Cola will devote a large investment in Powerade production to drive this growth forward.

Growth potential

In Australia, the Energy and Sports Drinks market is projected to generate revenue of $4.9bn ($3.24) in 2024 and is anticipated to grow at an annual rate of 4.53%, (CAGR 2024-2027), according to Statistica.

Powerade is the undisputed market leader in the country: accounting for nearly half of the category’s value and volume sales. And CCEP is confident of its future potential: with a huge investment in Powerade manufacturing in the country.

The $105.5m investment in a new Warmfill Line at CCEP’s Moorabbin plant in Victoria is expected to become operational in Q1, 2026: with the capacity to deliver up to 17.8 million unit cases annually.

The new system is capable of delivering up to 640 bottles per minute. When operating at full capacity, it will increase the site’s overall capacity by 23%.

Powerade teams up with Simone Biles

As Powerade grows, it is striving to maintain its status as a drink for performance athletes, as well as appealing to a broader audience. That's being spurred forward by big, high level partnerships that put the drink in front of a wider consumer base.

That's most recently been seen in a partnership with the Olympic Games: with a global campaign (including Powerade Gold, a product specifically designed for the Games) and a tie-up with US gymnastic legend Simone Biles: who took home three gold medals and one silver.

That campaign - which supports athletes' mental and physical wellbeing - launched in 30 markets inclusive of social and TV, with on-site experiential activations, limited-time product innovations, field-of-play presence, and more during the Olympic Games.

Other athletes featured in the campaign include Australian surfer Tyler Wright.

The Olympic campaigns have contributed to Powerade growing volume 6% in the latest quarter globally, says Coca-Cola.

Such sporting partnerships are a key way to appeal to sports-mad Australians. And more locally, key partnerships include becoming the Official Sports Hydration Partner of the Hungry Jacks National Basketball League and Cygnett Women’s National Basketball League).

That line will produce Powerade, but also Fuze Tea: another star performer in Coca-Cola's better-for-you portfolio.

“At CCEP, we are continually investing in our business to increase efficiency and capacity in order to meet the growing demand for our products,” Orlando Rodriguez, managing director of Coca-Cola Europacific Partners Australia told us.

“Investing in the sports category is central to our overarching growth ambitions, given we expect to see the level of demand for these products continue to increase in future.”

The new development includes construction of a 4,200sqm manufacturing hall, the installation of a high-speed 640 bottle per minute Nitro-Warmfill line, and upgrades to water treatment, electrical systems, compressed air, nitrogen dosing, heating and cooling systems, and a syrup room for Warmfill product manufacturing.

'Make where we sell' model

As well as helping meet increasing demand, the production line will help CCEP move towards its goal of producing more beverages more locally. Powerade is currently produced at the other ends of the country in Perth and Brisbane. Adding production in Melbourne will drastically reduce the distance raw materials and products have to travel: with the new line delivering beverages for Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia.

In fact, the new line is expected to reduce inter-business transportation of Warmfill Line products and their raw materials by 2.9 million kilometers (1.8 miles) annually, resulting in an approximate annual reduction of 3,785 tonnes of CO2.

“Our investment in a new Warmfill Line at our Moorabbin facility in Victoria adds to our existing Warmfill capabilities in Queensland and Western Australia, supporting our goal to “make where we sell” by enabling us to produce and deliver beverages locally to more customers with greater efficiency and more sustainably,” explained Rodriguez.