Coca-Cola aims to double India business in 5 yrs

“Coca-Cola India became the fifth largest market as it reached the milestone of selling 1-billion-unit case in 2019. It took 21 years for the company to achieve the mark of 1 billion case unit sales in a year in 2019, and now our target is to take the number up to 2 billion units in five years,” Quincey said.” Quincey said at an event in Mumbai.

India has been contributing to “solid growth” and presents a promising opportunity to become one of the top three markets for the company soon, he added. The US is the biggest market for the company followed by Mexico, China and Brazil.

As a part of the company’s refreshed approach, Coca-Cola India will continue to grow its core brands by rolling out new variants across Thumbs Up, Limca, Fanta, Sprite and Maaza, including no-sugar extensions. Quincey also said the company will also look to diversify its portfolio by entering new beverage categories like enhanced hydration, nutritious dilutable and beverage-plus at affordable price points.

A company executive added that it has reduced the sugar content in Maaza and Thumbs Up products over the past eight months. When asked about the slowdown, he said the company does not get affected by a quarter of either uptick or downturn in sales and added that it feels 2020 will see a surge in sales. To a question on the impact of the coronavirus epidemic, he said it does not see significant impact due to supply chain issues but hinted that it can get affected if the issues prolong. There is also resilience in the business because of its localised nature in every geography that it operates in.