Coca-Cola System Investing $2 Billion in India
The Coca-Cola Company and its bottling partners will invest $2 billion in India over the next five years, beginning in 2012, to further capture the opportunity in the country’s non-alcoholic ready-to-drink (NARTD) beverage market. India is a strategic growth country for The Coca-Cola Company, ranking among its top 10 markets in volume globally and as the largest market in the Eurasia and Africa Group.
Ahmet Bozer, Coca-Cola’s president, Eurasia and Africa Group, comments: “India is one of our most important growth markets as we work toward our 2020 Vision of doubling system revenues and servings this decade. The opportunity in the packaged beverage segment is immense, and our efforts in India are focused on being the beverage of choice all day, every day. If we continue to do the right things each day and at all times, it would not surprise me if India becomes one of the top five markets for the company globally by the end of this decade.”
NARTD beverages have enormous growth potential in India. The Coca-Cola Company and its bottling partners have robust plans to capture this opportunity with investments in innovation, consumer marketing and brand building, expansion of distribution and cold drink equipment placement as well as further development of manufacturing capacity to meet growing consumer demand.
The Coca-Cola system has already invested over $2 billion in India since it re-entered the country in 1993, and currently it directly employs more than 25,000 people. The Coca-Cola Company has registered volume growth in India for the past 21 quarters, 15 of which have seen double-digit growth. Two of the company’s core sparkling brands – Thums Up and Sprite – are the country’s top selling soft drink brands. Trademark Coca-Cola is one of our fastest growing sparkling brands and Maaza is India’s largest selling juice drink.
Worldwide, The Coca-Cola Company and its bottling partners are investing nearly $30 billion over the next five years to support anticipated growth across its system. These investments range from new manufacturing facilities to new distribution systems to new marketing investments in emerging economies. The Coca-Cola system currently employs more than 700,000 people worldwide, making it one of the world’s top five private employers.
