Is India new frontier for Coca-Cola? CEO leads massive delegation to nation

In a recent development India's rising significance for the beverage giant, The Coca-Cola Company is sending a 220-member leadership team to the country this week, led by global chairman and chief executive officer James Quincey, according to a report by Economic Times.

Also Read | Coca Cola enters Indian alcoholic beverages market with ‘Lemon-Dou’

This large-scale visit signals India's position as a top-five volume growth priority market for Coca-Cola, which is facing challenges in mature markets like the US and Europe. With India's young and populous demographic, the company sees good potential for expansion.

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"The executives are keen on meeting the government brass," said one of the executives cited in the ET report. “They will also be engaging with bottling partners that now operate close to half of Coca-Cola's bottling business in India - and are crucial since they will infuse capital into the business,” the person aware of the matter further added, as quoted by ET.

Also Read | Coca-Cola to build capacity in India after ‘robust’ growth in 2023

"India is gaining prominence in global system due to strong earnings over the last two years. There are significant investments into building capacity, and the focus is now on ensuring growth is balanced with profitability," said one of the executives as reported by Economic Times.

In December last year Coca-Cola India forayed into the domestic alcohol market for the first time, introducing Lemon-Dou, its global alcoholic ready-to-drink beverage. The company has started pilot tests of Lemon-Dou in “a few states in India."

Meanwhile, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd (HCCB), a subsidiary of The Coca-Cola Company, recently announced the transfer of bottling operations in three territories in north India as the beverage maker moves to streamline supply chains in the region.