Accordingly, I can only see profits in steep decline in...

Accordingly, I can only see profits in steep decline in Australia and imo they deserve to be in decline because of the way they been treating the smaller retailers over many years using their standover tactics and selling to them at higher prices.

Ain't that the truth. I was an independent vending operator for many years and of course I sold their products but they treated me and every other operator as mortal enemies.

If Coke loses it's lustre as the "must have" drink, CCL will suffer terribly. All the small retailers will tell them what to do with their branded fridges, buy their own and sell a wide variety of drinks with better margins. I'm not going to give any time frame but the unthinkable is now thinkable.

Cadbury Schweppes will NOT gain much market share because they have a more limited range and they are even more hopeless to deal with than Coke or at least they were years ago and they never rang me with offers after I told them they were hopeless, they were just too lazy. I reckon the market will fragment eventually with manufacturers supplying local agents at prices they can resell at. That's the way it was 30 - 40years ago.