Kerala traders to wait for state govt decision on Pepsi, Coke

Small traders have opposed the boycott against the 2 soft drink giants

While retailers in Tamil Nadu have gone ahead with a boycott on the soft drink products Pepsi and Coke from the beginning of this month, counterparts in Kerala have decided to wait for a decision from the state government on banning these.

The Kerala government recently said it would further restrict the use of groundwater by PepsiCo at Palakkad. The Kerala Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samithi (KVVES), the apex traders body, claiming a million members in the state, met Chief Minister P Vijayan recently to ban the soft drinks products of the two multinationals. T Naseeruddin, state president of KVVES, has said the state health ministry can ban food products found to be harmful to health. Earlier, KVVES was planning to announce a boycott from May 1, and later decided to approach the State government to stop sales of these products.

The government did not share its plans on the issue during the meeting, said a regional leader from KVVES. There is also opposition from small traders. “Small retailers feel that a boycott on Pepsi and Coke at this time would affect their business. We have decided to wait for the government’s decision,” said Y Vijayan, general secretary, of KVVES, Thiruvananthapuram district committee. While margins are lower on Pepsi and Coke, compared to local brands, customers prefer these products, say small retailers. Customers usually order snacks or other food products along with the soft drinks; losing a customer in the latter would mean a loss of sales in the other products, he added. Earlier, minister for water resources Mathew Thomas announced in the legislative assembly that the government would take stringent measures to restrict PepsiCo, which has a factory in Palakkad, from drawing groundwater, as the state is facing drought.