Comments
Coca-Cola India has registered a strong double-digit growth in terms of revenues in the fourth quarter ended December 2017, backed by solid volume growth.
Buoyed by the strong momentum, the company said it will continue to focus on growing its portfolio especially by expanding its carbonated beverages with fruit juice portfolio this year.
The company could also look at adding more variants to brand Thums Up.
T Krishnakumar, President, Coca-Cola India and South West Asia, said: “Overall we saw a very strong performance in the second-half of last year. In the fourth quarter, we saw strong double-digit revenue growth backed by a solid volume growth. We saw good traction in both rural and urban markets. We also expect rural growth to be strong this year.”
The company said that its brand Thums Up saw high single- digit growth, while Sprite and Minute Maid saw double-digit growth in the second-half of last year.
Carbonated soft drinks
Replying to a query on the company’s carbonated soft drinks portfolio growth last year, he said: “We continued to do well in the three key categories of sparkling drinks, juice-based beverages and hydration. Sparkling beverages continue to retain its relevance and is a significant part of our portfolio.”
After experimenting with addition of orange juice to its brand Fanta, the company is next looking at blending juices with its other key aerated beverages brands. Krishnakumar said: “We believe there is a huge opportunity to build an entirely new category of sparkling beverages with fruit juices. We have had positive response with Fanta, in this regard. We are next looking at adding juices to our brands Sprite and Limca. This is aligned with our fruit circular economy initiative.”
Thums Up Charged
Meanwhile, after launching Thums Up Charged, the company could also look at introducing more variants of the brand.
“We have seen good initial response for Thums Up Charged. We believe there is potential to add more innovations and variants to strengthen the Thums Up franchise as we take it beyond the Indian shores,” he added.
The company could look at introducing low sugar variant of Thums Up too.
Coca-Cola India has also decided to associate with the upcoming season of India Premier League as a sponsor both on TV as well as the digital platform Hotstar.
The company will also take its active hydration brand Aqaurius and ethnic aerated drink Rimzim national this year.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.