Tata Tea plans to take on Coca Cola, Pepsi, Unilever globally

Tata Tea today said that it has evolved a strategy to compete globally with Coca Cola, Pepsi and Unilever in the beverages business.  

Unveiling a 5-15-year roadmap to create a global leader in the branded beverages segment, Tata Tea CEO Peter Unsworth said that the company may look at partnerships and acquisitions for this purpose but as of now there is no proposal.  

In recession time, all companies are under pressure but Tata Tea has shown resilience because of its core business being tea and coffee, he said, adding the company was in the process of integrating the working of its five entities to deliver economies of scale.  

Unsworth, however, made it clear that at the moment there is no plan for financial integration of its entities, of which three are listed.  

Only yesterday, the Tata group company, announced a consolidated net profit at Rs 701 crore for FY09 on a total consolidated income of Rs 4,874 crore.  

"We are expanding our global distribution and are restructuring our US business to compete with Coca Cola, Pepsi and Unilever," Unsworth said.