The Hindu Business Line : Coca-Cola begins sourcing mangoes directly from farmers

Chennai June 16 Kick-starting an initiative to establish direct linkages with the agriculture sector in the country, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt Ltd (HCCB) has sourced its first consignment of mangoes from farmers in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh. The "Totapuri" variety of mangoes, so far sourced through dealers, is used in making the popular drink Maaza.

Speaking on the sidelines of a seminar on corporate social responsibility organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry, Mr Vikas Kochhar, Region Manager, Public Affairs and Communication, HCCB, told Business Line that the company was working with eight mutually aided cooperative societies (MACS) in Andhra Pradesh, each having 300-400 farmers as members.

HCCB's annual requirement for Maaza is a "few hundred tonnes" of "Totapuri" mango compared to the annual yield of "many lakhs of tonnes" of the fruit in India, Mr Kocchar said.

The company plans to directly approach farmers to buy their produce. "There is no monetary advantage in this because we offer the same price (market price) to dealers and farmers. The farmer is free to choose who he wants to sell to," he said. Farmers favour dealers because dealers also double up as moneylenders, helping farmers in times of need.

Scientific inputs

But HCCB plans to offer farmers more than money. "We will give them scientific inputs on how to improve yield, reduce wastage after harvest, grow more than one crop variety and water utilisation techniques," Mr Kochhar said. However, these measures were not to be mistaken for contract farming, he said.

The company has similar plans to source orange pulp for its recently introduced Minute Maid Pulpy Orange juice. Currently, the drink contains orange juice sourced from Brazil and orange concentrate sourced from the US.

"The variety of orange used for the drink is not cultivated in India. In the long-term we plan to introduce this variety among domestic orange growers," he said.

Minute Maid, launched four months ago in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, has sold about 40 lakh bottles so far and the company introduced it in North India last week.

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