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Coke India makes foray into readymade tea, coffee
New Delhi, Nov 12: Coca-Cola`s Indian unit announced a foray into the $1.12 billion readymade tea and coffee market on Tuesday but said the bulk of its revenues over the next seven years would still come from soft drinks.
New Delhi, Nov 12: Coca-Cola's Indian unit announced a foray into the $1.12 billion readymade tea and coffee market on Tuesday but said the bulk of its revenues over the next seven years would still come from soft drinks.
The world's biggest soft drinks company, which holds the upper hand over rival PepsiCo Inc in the battle for India's $1.2 billion carbonated beverages market, said its new Georgia tea and coffee line would start selling in mid-November. "This is one of our biggest diversifications in India," said Sanjiv Gupta, Coca-Cola India's deputy president, at a news conference.
Some 70 per cent of India's commercial beverage market is comprised of tea and coffee, with an estimated value of $7.0 billion. Sixteen per cent of tea and coffee is drunk outside the home and is the market that Coke hopes to grab, Gupta said. It is the latest diversification for The Coca-Cola Company, which has branched out in the last few years into bottled water, powdered drink mixes and premium coffee and tea brands.
The U.S. soft drinks giant has emerged as market leader in India since it was allowed to re-enter the country in 1993 after being booted out in 1977 by a left-leaning government, which demanded that it reveal its "secret formula".
Rival Pepsi made its debut in 1989 in India, which has a population of more than one billion people.
Coke built up its market share after its return by buying the soft drink brands of local beverage maker Parle.
The world's biggest soft drinks company, which holds the upper hand over rival PepsiCo Inc in the battle for India's $1.2 billion carbonated beverages market, said its new Georgia tea and coffee line would start selling in mid-November. "This is one of our biggest diversifications in India," said Sanjiv Gupta, Coca-Cola India's deputy president, at a news conference.
Some 70 per cent of India's commercial beverage market is comprised of tea and coffee, with an estimated value of $7.0 billion. Sixteen per cent of tea and coffee is drunk outside the home and is the market that Coke hopes to grab, Gupta said. It is the latest diversification for The Coca-Cola Company, which has branched out in the last few years into bottled water, powdered drink mixes and premium coffee and tea brands.
The U.S. soft drinks giant has emerged as market leader in India since it was allowed to re-enter the country in 1993 after being booted out in 1977 by a left-leaning government, which demanded that it reveal its "secret formula".
Rival Pepsi made its debut in 1989 in India, which has a population of more than one billion people.
Coke built up its market share after its return by buying the soft drink brands of local beverage maker Parle.
"Over the next five years, I expect at least 60 to 70 per cent of our turnover to still come from soft drinks," Gupta said.
"A large part of our volumes will come from water, tea and coffee... but they will take at least the next four to five years to seven years to really mature," he said.
Bureau Report