Thums Up, Sprite likely to uncork Coca-Cola's $2 billion brand bottle

Coca-Cola's Thums Up was the first brand from the company's stable to become a billion-dollar brand in 2021, followed closely by Sprite in 2022. Maaza crossed the billion-dollar mark in 2024

Coca-Cola’s brands — Thums Up and Sprite — are on their way to seeing their sales touch $2 billion in India.

 

“They are on track to getting to $2 billion. And, we also have Maaza as the third billion-dollar brand, which has joined the club. We will continue to make progress for other brands to reach that milestone soon,” Sundeep Bajoria, vice-president, operations, Coca Cola India & Southwest Asia, told Business Standard.

 

While Bajoria did not give out the extended timeline for the two brands to reach the $2 billion mark, he said he expects them to reach the target very soon.

 

Coca-Cola’s Thums Up was the first brand from the company’s stable to become a billion-dollar brand in 2021 which was closely followed by Sprite in 2022. Maaza crossed the billion-dollar mark in 2024.

 

Coca-Cola India currently reaches 5 million outlets, according to NielsenIQ, Bajoria said.

 

Bajoria added that the company continues to make good progress on reaching new consumers across channels and geographies. When asked about competition hotting-up in beverages, he said that the company will not change its margin structure with the supply chain.

 

While talking about demand as the summer season approaches, Bajoria said, “In beverages, the opportunity of the headroom to grow is immense, both in urban and rural areas. We do not see a slowdown in urban or a faster growth in rural. We see an opportunity in both areas of the country, and we are making sure that our products and our supply chains are ready to meet all those demands.”

 

He added, “We have been fortunate that summer has come in early, and we have been prepared with our significant investment in capacities. In the last four years, we have added more than 100 lines. So, we are better prepared to address consumer demands.”

 

He said Coca-Cola India is prepared with its range of products at the right price points to meet the rising consumer demand which will be higher than last year.

 

While talking about going asset light, he said, “We continue to make sure that we are keeping our system wide open for the right investments to meet consumer demand. We are also making sure that we are growing and expanding the beverage business in India.”

 

While talking about coolers, Coca-Cola India has close to 1.5 million coolers in the market and in the last six months the company has added 100,000.

 

“We have to make sure that we keep in mind the ambition and the opportunity of the market and continue investments…We will continue to make sure that we are partnering with our retail outlets to serve chilled products to all consumers. We will continue to make investments in coolers and equipment,” Bajoria added.