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| Coke, Pepsi hike soft drink prices by 20% |
| Press Trust of India / New Delhi Feb 02, 2010, 19:26 IST |
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Soft drink majors PepsiCo and Coca-Cola have increased prices of some of their products by up to 20 per cent, giving in to surging input costs at last.
While Coca-Cola has increased the prices of all its soft drink brands in 300 ml and 2 litre PET bottles between 9 per cent and 20 per cent, PepsiCo is understood to have raised prices by Rs 2 of all its 200 ml, 300 ml and 600 ml bottles across all brand.
"Price increase of soft drinks have been happening in phase wise since November last year. It started out in Andhra Pradesh and last week in Delhi," an industry source said.
When contacted, a Coca-Cola spokesperson confirmed the development and said the firm has increased the prices of "select packs in some markets".
"Given the recent rise in commodity prices and those of the ingredients for our beverages, our bottling partners have raised the prices of select packs in some markets. The price increase is being implemented in a phased manner in different geographies," the spokesperson said.
The companies have been up against rising input costs, specially sugar, which touched a high of Rs 40 per kg in the recent past. With the government imposing limits on stocks for bulk users, the soft drink majors have even imported sugar to meet their requirements.
A PepsiCo spokesperson also said: "High inflation and rising sugar price over an extended period has had an adverse impact on cost structures of the food & beverage industry and its ability to hold prices. Therefore, we have been compelled to raise the prices of certain SKUs."
PepsiCo India has kept the prices of its portfolio relatively stable over the last three years despite the four- fold increase in sugar prices, he added.
After the price hike, Coke's 300 ml returnable glass bottles are now available for Rs 12 from its earlier price of Rs 10. Besides, the company has also increased the prices of the 2 litre PET bottles of the soft drink brands by Rs 5 from Rs 55.
Coke has brand such as carbonated drink, Coca-Cola, Thums Up, Sprite, Fanta and Limca in its soft drinks portfolio. PepsiCo on the other hand has brands like cola drink Pepsi, 7Up, Mirinda and Mountain Dew.
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