Coca-Cola touts Coke Coffee as a wake-me-up drink

What has less sugar than a can of Coke and less caffeine than a cup of coffee? The answer, according to Coca-Cola, is Coke Coffee, a blend of both drinks that will be appearing in 25 markets by year-end.

"Coke Coffee was designed to reach consumers during specific occasions and channels like the mid-afternoon energy slump at work," CEO James Quincey told analysts in a conference call Tuesday. Already offered in international markets including Vietnam, Brazil and Columbia, Coke Coffee varies from country to country in that some versions have sugar and others do not, a Cola-Cola spokesperson emailed.

The drink combines Coke with coffee, with the blended beverage containing a bit less caffeine than a cup of coffee but more than a can of soda. The global beverage giant is looking to expand on a coffee business that has done well in Japan, where canned coffee has been popular for decades. 

Coca-Cola wants to tap into trends such as the spike in popularity among ready-to-drink coffee products, as well as chilled coffee drinks. The latter category grew at least 10 percent each year between 2013 and 2017 in the U.S., according to Mintel.

Along the same lines, Coca-Cola also plans to sell ready-to-drink Costa coffee products in Europe in the second quarter, following up on its recently completed $5.1 billion purchase of the British coffee chain.