Soft drinks major Coca-Cola Company on Tuesday said its mango juice offering, Maaza, has become a billion-dollar brand, as the sales of its drinks rebounded in India in the October-December quarter.
“In India, our business rebounded nicely during the quarter and we grew volume,” James Quincey, chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company, said in a post-earnings call. “Maaza is now our 30th billion-dollar brand,” he added.
The company’s other billion-dollar brands include Coca-Cola, Fanta, and Minute Maid.
In 2022, the company had announced that its lime-flavoured soft drink, Sprite, has become the billion-dollar brand in the Indian market. Before that, Thums Up got the tag in 2021.
According to people in the know, the company was expecting Maaza to become a billion-dollar brand in 2023. However, this got delayed due to a surge in mango prices in 2022 and the resulting squeeze on the margins.
Quincey also said that in 2024, the company added 440,000 new outlets to its network and experimented with digital platforms.
He said these platforms provide “more opportunities to better tailor our products, price and packaging offerings”. The comments come at a time when consumer companies have been tweaking their distribution channels to benefit from the rise of quick commerce.
Overall, the company reported a 6% growth in its revenue to $11.5 billion during the quarter, with unit case volumes rising 2%. For the full year, the unit case volumes rose 1% led by India, Brazil and Mexico. The company has also refranchised its bottling operations in certain territories in India.
During the three months and year ended December 31, the company recorded net gains of $13 million and $303 million, respectively, related to this refranchising. Additionally, during the year ended December 31, the company incurred $7 million of transaction costs related to this.