Trailing Pepsi in India, Coke wants to cash in on ‘advantage portfolio’

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New Delhi, Mar 23 : US cola giant Coca Cola has said that rival Pepsi is slightly ahead but the Atlanta-based company is determined to push India among its top five markets on the strength of its “advantage portfolio” here.

“By the way, Pepsi is slightly ahead of us. But the issue is total business. Cola-to-cola, we are ahead. Every sub-category like lemon and orange, we are ahead. Four out of top five brands are ours,” E Neville Isdell, chairman and CEO of Coca Cola said.

Recalling the strategy adopted by the company way back in 1993 of buying Limca, Thumps Up and Maaza from Ramesh Chauhan, Isdell said “it’s a real mixture of three real champion local brands along with Coca Cola, Fanta and Sprite as global international brands has put us in a leadership position.”

Asked whether an Indian heading the rival company (Indra Nooyi as CEO of Pepsi) gives advantage to Pepsi, Isdell stated “we do not have a formula that says we have to have this nationality in this country because only locals are able to manage the business.”

“These things are situational... What is the skill that is needed and decision is taken,” he said.

Isdell, who is in India on a personal-cum-educational trip, has in his agenda to meet and relate with all the employees to make them feel an integral part of the overall global team.

The company, which has seen six straight quarters of growth, is well positioned to make India among the top five market for Coke over the next few years, with Isdell announcing to pump in about Rs 1,000 crore ($250 million) to expand operations here.

Asked whether he was satisfied with the growth of the company in India, Isdell said, “Yes, I am. We are absolutely on target. They (Indian) were one of the best business units of the company in 2007 both in terms of volume and profit. So we are on track.”

He, however, declined to reveal the financial figures of Indian operations.

On the impact of expected slowdown in US economy on Indian operations, the Coke CEO said “nearly 80% of our profitability comes from outside the US... We will not be affected as most other industries.”

In fact, the rupee appreciation vis-a-vis US currency is not really a major issue for the company. “We source so much of our product and ingredient locally... We are virtually a local brand so the inflationary pressures are not that large for us as they are for the people who have large imported product portfolio.” PTI

Asked what are new products being launched in India, Isdell said new products would be brought and launched but it has to be at an appropriate time for each country. “Thats a decision which is a part of the local management.”