The world’s largest beverage company, Coca-Cola, expects more brands to join the billion-dollar club in India, executive vice president and chief operating officer, Henrique Braun, said on Thursday. The company has three billion-dollar brands in India, including Thums Up, Maaza and Sprite, with the market being vibrant and demand resilient, Braun said.
The company, which has seven out of top ten global brands in the India beverage market, will continue to develop more brands here, he said.
“We have today 30 billion-dollar brands (globally), of which 15 were built organically and 15 we acquired and built into billion-dollar brands over the years,” Braun said. “I have no doubt that we will have another one coming in the future because we believe in the vibrance of the country and the industry,” he said.
According to industry insiders, Coke is likely to join the billion-dollar brand club in the Indian market soon. While Limca, the lime and lemony drink acquired from Ramesh Chauhan in 1993 along with Maaza and Thums Up, has crossed revenue of Rs 2,800 crore in 2024, the company said on Wednesday.
Braun also said that he saw opportunity for demand creation in India, given that packaged beverages continued to be an under-penetrated market here. India is Coca-Cola’s fifth-largest market by volume. But carbonated drinks are also taxed heavily, attracting 28% GST and a cess of 12%.
“It is never a straight line, but if you compare year-on-year, the bigger the time frame, the better you are going to understand what is going on. There are different bases, but the demand creation opportunity is still there,” he said.
Braun also said that the company is putting the building blocks in place for the future.
“India is very important. It’s our fifth growth market in terms of volume. And we believe that we’re building the right foundations to have sustainable growth for the future,” he added.
Coca-Cola may also introduce more global brands into the country in the future, Braun said.