Emboldened by the demand for Starbucks ready-to-drink coffee beverages, Coca Cola Co. (NYSE: KO) and coffee roaster illycafe have announced a global joint venture to produce bottled coffee. Coke's entry into this category is hardly any surprise, given the advertised $10 billion scope of the global market and the long-established presence of its main rival, Pepsi.

Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) ready-to-drink coffee beverages are distributed through a partnership with PepsiCo Inc. (NYSE: PEP), highlighting a new showdown in the battle for share-of-stomach. The landscape has shifted from cola vs. the world to a new market in which each beverage vertical, from water to premium juices to green teas to (now) milky, sweetened bottled coffees is really just Coke vs. Pepsi couched in other brands.

Interestingly, Starbucks and Pepsi have struggled with the ready-to-drink coffee segment in the past; in the first fiscal quarter of 2007, Starbucks management expressed dissatisfaction with its sales. In the third quarter ending June 30, 2007, however, the trend reversed and the segment showed 24% improvement.

Enough success, I suppose, to encourage Coke and illycafe to go forward with their talks -- Coke had mentioned plans for a line of "latte" beverages last year. The deal won't be final until the end of the year, so no word on the exact makeup of the products (although I can bet it will look largely similar to Starbucks' lineup), or when they'll be launched. Interestingly, there is no mention of Coca-Cola's "Blak" coffee-flavored sodas, launched about a year ago and discontinued at the end of August.

This post is part of our Battle of the Brands feature. Let us know which brand you prefer, and watch out for more Battle of the Brands posts.

Some people drink Pepsi, some people drink Coke,
The wacky morning DJ says democracy's a joke.
-- Cake, Comfort Eagle

Unless you are a rare RC Cola drinker, your carbonated beverage decision in the supermarket comes down to the two heavyweights: the flagship products from the Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) and PepsiCo Inc (NYSE: PEP). But the battle between these brands spans much further than the supermarket shelves. From which brand restaurants stock, to what countries each operates in, this rivalry is all-encompassing and global. But instead of a list of countries or restaurant chains, lets take a deeper look at the actual products.

Cola and Beyond

We don't have space to list, nor would you have time to read, every different variant of Coca-Cola and Pepsi, which would force me to include failed ideas such as Crystal Pepsi. Suffice it to say, you won't find many original ideas here, and when a successful idea comes from either company, an imitator just as quickly appears from the other. Coke/Pepsi, Diet Coke/Diet Pepsi, Cherry Coke/Wild Cherry Pepsi, Coke with Lime/Pepsi Lime, Coke Zero/Pepsi One, Coca-Cola Blak/Pepsi Cappuccino. Had enough yet? Because that was just a list of comparable colas. Both companies also make lemon-lime sodas, orange sodas, and other similar carbonated and noncarbonated beverages. So then what differentiates them? Certainly not their product arsenal, but taste and marketing.