Swadeshi Fizz

Donald W Short, the CEO of Coca-Cola India, is bubbling to promote Thums Up and Limca among Indian consumers once more. The multinational soft drink giant had bought these brands from Ramesh Chauhan in 1994, but concentrated on marketing Coca-Colas international brands in the Indian market. This year however, Coca-Cola is launching aggressive campaigns for the former Parle brands "" a whopping 30 to 35 per cent of Coca-Colas 1998 budget will be spent on Thums Up promotions, compared to 20 to 25 per cent on promoting Coke. Limca too will get a good 15-18 per cent share of expenditure. Limca accounts for 17 per cent of the companys turnover from India, while Thums Up brings in over 40 per cent; Coke itself only accounts for 23 per cent.

Coca Cola India will also manufacture Limca and Thums Up cans for export to Singapore, Hong Kong and West Asia. This will help the company meet its export commitments to the Indian government; according to its FIPB approval letter, Coca Cola must maintain a 3:1 exports to imports ratio.