" These companies combined represent approximately over 80% of the total market share in the soft drink market. Furthermore over the past 100 years both Pepsi and Coca-Cola continue to be large successful organizations because of the substantial profitability of the soft-drink industry. .
Using Porter's Five Forces Model there are several reasons why this industry has continued to be profitable. In the past century, the soft-drink market has grown to a staggering $60 billion industry in the United States alone. Also Pepsi and Coke are two companies, which have become recognizable to the average consumer in the US. These two companies have successfully created a strong brand and a customer base that is loyal to their products. As a result potential (new) competitors have had a hard time competing with Pepsi and Coke on a global level. There are several barriers to entry potential competitors have to overcome in order to compete with these organizations. First both Pepsi and Coke have recently bought and manufactured large bottling plants which distribute these products. As well both companies have also obtained exclusivity rights that prevent new competitors from distributing their products in certain areas. Since Pepsi and Coke control a large share of distribution, new competitors may have to rely on Pepsi and Coke to distribute their product. In addition new competitors would have to compete for limited shelf space in supermarkets. Warehouses such as Superstore have started to manufacture their own private brand of soft drinks to compete with Pepsi and Coke. New competitors would need a surplus of capital to enter the national or global market due to high costs for maintaining and building a concentrate factory (Probably would have to sustain negative cash flows for a year). Another force in Porter's five forces model deals with the threat of substitutes. Both Pepsi and Coke have non-CSD products such as Gatorade (Pepsi) in the sports drink market, Dasani (Coke) in the bottled water market and Tropicana (Pepsi) in the multi-juice market.