Higher costs to drive up soft drink prices

Beverage consumers should expect to see higher prices for soft-drinks on U.S. store shelves this year.

That's because of higher costs for aluminum, corn syrup and concentrate, industry analyst John Sicher said this week.

"As a result of these bottler cost increases, consumers will see soft drinks going up this year in the range of 4 percent or perhaps even a little bit more," said Sicher, editor and publisher of Beverage Digest.

Bottlers set prices on soft drinks on store shelves. Beverage makers like Coca-Cola and Pepsi set prices on the concentrate they provide to the bottlers.

Dan Schafer, a spokesman for The Coca-Cola Co., said the Atlanta-based company has been working on strategies to limit the potential impact to consumers of cost increases.

"Those are costs that will impact all the players in the industry, but when you look at the scale of our business, we think as a company we're well-positioned," Schafer said.