Coca-Cola aims to expand tea, looking at acquisitions

Coca-Cola aims to expand tea, looking at acquisitions

Coca-Cola Co the world's largest soft drink company, is keen to expand its tea business and will look at acquisitions to improve its position.

"Tea is a priority area," Chief Executive Neville Isdell told Reuters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum. "Tea is one area where we've seen our performance has not been as good as we would like it to be."

He declined to confirm or deny recent reports that Coca-Cola might buy or make an investment in Honest Beverages, a privately-held maker of Honest Tea. "The honest answer is we look at everything and when we decide that we are going to do something we will let you know," Isdell said.

Coca-Cola, like arch-rival PepsiCo Inc, has suffered a domestic slowdown in sales of its traditional soft drinks as health-conscious consumers opt for bottled water or tea, which they view as healthier.

The U.S. group already has a strong position in water, where it ranks third in the world, helped by last year's acquisition of vitamin-water maker Glaceau.

Isdell, who will hand over the CEO job to Chief Operating Officer Muhtar Kent in July, said Coca-Cola was not interested in large-scale M&A deals. "We will be acquiring bolt-on but no major acquisitions," he said.