Coca-Cola In India Is The Cheapest And Most Accessible

In a Deutsche Bank Global Consumer conference call, C0ca-Cola’s President and COO James Quincey tackled several important issues for the company to  address in the coming years. Among them, Coca-Cola plans to accelerate re-franchising and selling of its bottling businesses by the end of the 2017, according to Economic Times. The company plans to “go from being about 18% of the global bottling volume to about 3% concentrated largely in the Asian countries and in India.” 

Most Accessible Beverage

Speaking about the company’s standing in the Indian market, Quincey noted that India sells “cheapest, most accessible Coke you can probably buy in the world.” Coca-Cola has seen a slowdown in the consumption of its products and to ramp up the reach of its products, the company is said to be targeting rural markets. Among the initiatives to reach people from these markets, Coca-Cola launched splash bars in 2013, run by rural women in Gujarat. What started off as a local project, with 31 splash bars, has turned into an additional source of revenue for the company with, currently, over 3o,000 splash bars across the country selling more than 1.5 million cups of Coca-Cola products per day. The kiosk which dispenses several of the company’s products in 80-150 ml cups ranges in price from Rs. 5 and above. 

Getting The Pricing Right

The splash bars are part of growing trend for the company which focuses on affordability and access to its products. Coca-Colas has been experimenting with several price points for its products, especially in India, ranging from premium offerings to affordable. According to Quincey, India’s market has “certainly been growing and there’s a lot of the focus on affordability. You can see some of the splash bars, which is the cheapest, most accessible Coke you can probably buy in the world.” 

New Entry

During the call, Quincey also addressed the company’s new launch, a entry pack PET (250-ml). Speaking about the product, Quincey noted that “The pack radically extends the shelf life of small PET… rural areas has always been a problem for anyone in PET bottles because it loses the gas. So, this is a way of really being able to extend the reach way further into the rural areas.” Currently, these products are sold in three different variants – 180 ml cans at Rs 20, 250-ml PET packs at Rs 15 and 200 ml glass bottles at Rs 12.