Coca-Cola Company yesterday launched its first dairy drink in China as it embarked on a major expansion in the still beverage market as the population increasingly become more health conscious.

The domestically made Minute Maid Pulpy Super Milky drink, a mixture of fruit juice, milk powder and coconut bits, will be sold in 300 cities across China by the end of this year, said Douglas A. Jackson, president of Coca-Cola China.

The launch of the new product marks Coke's maiden entry into China's dairy drink segment and also underscores its efforts to continuously explore the non-sparkling beverage market after a proposed deal to acquire China's biggest juice maker, Huiyuan Juice Group Ltd, was blocked early this year.

"China is the world's No. 3 market for Coca-Cola," said Andres Kiger, senior marketing director of Coca-Cola China. "The fascinating thing in China is the huge amount of growth in many categories. We are trying to broaden (our) product portfolio, listen to consumers and develop products associated to their needs."

Coca-Cola said about 6.2 million liters of dairy drinks were consumed last year, citing data from Canadean, a beverage research company.

The firm is not the first beverage maker to pin hopes on juice milk products in China as consumers switched from sparkling drinks on health concerns.

A report from China Investment showed that the Nutri Express, produced by China's biggest beverage maker Wahaha Group, accounted for nearly 70 percent of the market in China's juice drink segment.

Atlanta-based Coca-Cola said the new dairy drink was developed by its new US$90 million Global Innovation Technology Center in Shanghai.

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