Affordable offerings help Coca-Cola raise its customer base in India

Coca-Cola increased its customer base in India by expanding affordable offerings at key transaction-driving price points through the use of single-serve packages.

In the January-March quarter, this strategy yielded results with more than 500 million incremental transactions added in India, which is a nearly 20 per cent rise compared with the same period last year, Coca-Cola said in its earnings release on Monday.

It also added that 70 per cent of these incremental transactions were driven by small packages such as returnable glass bottles and affordable, single-serve PET packages.

James Quincy, chairman and chief executive officer of Coca-Cola, told investors in an earnings conference call: “In India, we drove excellence in integrated execution as consumer mobility improved across channels by stepping up product availability, adding approximately 240,000 outlets and over 50,000 coolers.”

He also told investors, “We also continue to build relevance through innovation by launching Maaza Aam Panna to leverage our equity in Mango and Fanta Apple to expand our footprint in the fast-growing fruit flavoured sparkling sub-category.”

Coca-Cola also said in its release that growth in developing and emerging markets was led by Brazil and India. The company’s nutrition, juice, dairy, and plant-based beverages grew 12 per cent, led by Fairlife in the United States, Minute Maid Pulpy in China, and Maaza in India.