
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, December 10, 1994                   TAG: 9412120038
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MAG POFF STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

PRICE OF COKE GOING UP

The wholesale price of Coca-Cola will increase 10 percent in the can and at soda fountains effective Jan. 2, the soft drink's local bottler said Friday.

Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Roanoke notified its customers of the price increase this week. That increase affects its beverages in all types of containers.

Lauren C. Steele, spokesman for the local company's parent, Coca-Cola Bottling Company Consolidated in Charlotte, N.C., said Coke USA also notified its customers of a similar price increase this week, impacting soda fountains.

Steele said neither the Roanoke company nor its parent has control over retail prices. As manufacturers and distributors, the bottling companies sell at wholesale to supermarkets and other retailers that set their own prices to consumers, he said.

But if retailers pass along the 10 percent increase, a can of Coke might jump to 60 cents from the current 50 or 55 cents.

The Roanoke company's letter to its customers said the price increase is due to sharply rising costs of various raw materials.

"The primary driver of this increase is the fact that aluminum prices have increased 80 percent this year," the letter said. "Half the total cost in a 12-ounce can soft drink is in the aluminum can itself. In addition, concentrate costs are up 3 percent, sweetener costs are up 15 percent and paperboard costs are up 7.1 percent.

"These increases will affect the entire soft-drink industry. The aluminum can and paperboard increases will affect other major beverage categories as well," the letter said.

Coca-Cola Bottling Consolidated's most recent financial report was in October for its third quarter. The company said net income was $4.9 million, or 14 percent below year-earlier $5.7 million. Sales for the quarter were $188.4 million, up 3.4 percent from $182.1 million.

A spokesman for the Pepsi Cola Bottling Co. of Roanoke referred questions about possible price increase to its parent, PepsiCo. Inc. in Somers, N.Y. Two calls to that company Friday were not returned.

by CNB