Priyanka Venkat

IMS 3310.OU1
07-28-14
Li
The Coca Cola Company in India
The Coca Cola Company is an American multinational beverage corporation
and manufacturer. A huge part of the Coca-Cola System, the company and all of its
bottling partners worldwide, is being able to operate at a local scale in every
community they do business with worldwide. In more ways than just the products
they sell, the Coca Cola Company understands and assimilates in each region of their
business. This not only establishes them in the community but also shows their
understanding and care for the people they do business with. One great example of
how they switch their focus is the Coca Cola operations in India. The company
entered India in 1956, back when India had no foreign exchange act, and was
operating under 100% equity. In 1974 the Indian Foreign Exchange Act was
implemented. Coca-Cola agreed to the new rule of investing 40% equity in India but
refused to allow local participation of power. Refusing to change their plan they
were asked to leave the country in 1977, not to be seen again until 1993
Coca Cola India is the countries leading Beverage Company with an
unmatched portfolio of beverages. Coca cola and Pepsi, not the companies but the
soda flavor, have long been quite similar and always in competition when it comes
to which one to choose, and if you want to substitute one for the other. However, in
India theres another competing drink that to them is on the same level of
competition. Many locals of India have been loyal customers of a drink known as
Thums Up. Its a local soda that has just about the same taste as both Coke and Pepsi.
In 1993, when Coca Cola re-entered India, they acquired the Thums Up brand. This
acquisition held them owning two of the most popular soft drink brands in that
country, Thums Up and Sprite. In 1993 the Coca-Cola was actually trying to re-enter
the country after being absent for over a decade. Aquiring these popular brands
helped give them the competitive edge they needed to come back in already leading
the market. It was very risky for the company to acquire competitive brand, since

this would mean they would have both Coke and Thums Up competing against each
other in the market. This was a hard obstacle for the company to overcome, but
after a while they realized they would need to market Coke as an International new
beverage, and continue to puch Thums Up as a national favorite. Coca Cola India has
many beverages in their product lists, most are the basics and most popular, but
they have also added and distribute a couple of India specific options. From juices to
soft drinks this company has done its research on their community and distributes
according to what the people will want to buy. They have built their company on
two core principles: their brands and the people. An example of a sparkling soda
that is specific to India is Limca. Limca, like Thums Up, is a brand previously owned
by Parle but acquired by Coca-Cola during their Comeback. This is one of the most
popular drinks all around India; you can even see it sold in the US in every Indian
store you come by. Another product on their list is the juice Maaza, a mango
concentrate, one of the, if not the most, popular fruits in the country. The people of
India are probably the main consumers of anything and everything regarding
mangos, Coca Cola company first introduced it in South India and it quickly grew as
a popular beverage from there. There are many other juice and soda brands of CocaCola; another great and amazing product for the country on the other hand is water,
plain and simple. India is one of many countries that have several issues regarding
water sanitation. Being born there you may have acquired a bit of tolerance but
nonetheless drinking bottled water is a very heavily practiced hobby. That being
said The Coca Cola Company introduced not only just water, but water with an
assurance of safety by the company. Ensuring that their products are safe to drink,
and that the company cares about the health of the consumers. Kinley remains to be
the countrys largest retail packaged drinking water brand, Maaza is Indias largest
selling juice drink, and Sprite and Thums Up are the countries largest selling soft
drinks. Coca-Cola India is not only producing these consumer friendly products in
their region, but they are producing products that seize to have any close
competition in the marketplace.
The Coca-Cola Company India is also very involved in giving back to the
community, the people, and the environment. The Coca-Cola Cup, for example, is a

huge inter-school cricket competition in India. The Company invites kids from a
certain age group to compete in the tournament. Throughout the tournament
talented members are chosen to move forward and winners get to choose another
International winning team to play against. Coca Cola India Private saw this as an
opportunity to find and grow cricketing talent, as it is a fast growing and popular
sport in the country. Through this competition Coca Cola India Private Limited seeks
to teach these young kids to show their talents and skills as well as pride and loyalty
for their schools, building teamwork at a young age within the country.
The Coca-Cola Company takes its commitment of marketing responsibility
very seriously in their relations all across the globe. They extended their policies
towards this to their operations in India. As well, the company is working with the
business community to target customers of the right age and better represent
themselves with the people. As part of the India Pledge section of their responsible
marketing plan, the Company promises not to market any products to those under
the age of 12. The Indian Pledge is a commitment to change food and beverage
advertising on TV, print, radio, and Internet to children under the age of 12. The
Company is proud to be a signatory of this pledge, which requires them to provide
information on their policies for transparent review. They have even established a
Childrens Review Process to help them adhere to these policies. If any advertising is
directly targeted at an audience that is greater than 35 percent children under 12
the Company cannot purchase it.
The Coca Cola India system has its hands in several operations towards
growth and development within the country. Leading the country in several
programs regarding water safety. The facilities available and the needs that must be
met to improve water sanitation within the country are very far from getting close.
Partnering with other government and non-government organizations, Coca-Cola
India is attempting to start to bridge the gap and help the community and the fight
against water-borne illnesses within the region. Along this is when the Coca Cola
India Foundation was formed. The foundation is focused on growth relating to
issues of water, healthy living, the environment, and social development of India.
The foundation provides monetary grants to organizations and philanthropies that

are able to promote and implement these projects across the country. These are four
of the greatest issues the country of India faces and Coca-Cola India has created a
foundation dedicated to providing for the people and the country needs to help
improve the way of life. The Company has received several awards such as the
Chanakya Award 2011 by the prestigious Public Relations Council of India for their
use of communication as a tool to raise awareness about water safety and
conservation
In September of 2010, the Coca-Cola Company launched an initiative called
5by20. This is a plan by the Company to empower 5 million women entrepreneurs
across their value chain by the year 2020. After examining the gender diversity
within their organization, the Company realized that there is much work to be done
to balance the amount of men to women. They found that it was in the top executive
offices and leadership roles that there was a larger gap between the amount of
women, if any women at all. The Coca-Cola Company began initiating programs
under a Diversity council to help women get over some of the limitations that are
placed by society in India and the barriers that keep them from building their
careers with the Company. The gender gap in the workplace is an issue in the
country that Coca-Cola Company hopes to start to bridge within their organization.
Part of their mission statement is developing long-term relationships, which is done
by having a workforce of mainly full time employees. Therefore Coca Cola India has
a responsibility with itself to improve their qualities of employment, fairness, and
diversity ratios. Parivartan, meaning change towards better, is a program developed
by Coca-Cola India to educate local retailers in key areas of their businesses.
Teaching them the skills and techniques that they can use to be greatly successful
within their business. The Company also made it on Indias issue of Business Today
magazine as one of the top places to work for. In the article they were mentioned as
putting their people first. Many as the best years of their life, and a genuinely
amazing and fulfilling work experience interpreted the work culture of the
company. They demonstrated [their] commitment to diversity in the workplace,
and [have] placed women as key positions in India. Because of these great

relationships formed Coca-Cola India has low employment turnover rate ranging
below thirteen percent.
Another way the Company helps preserve long-term relationships is
addressing the opportunities for professional development. Developing several
different programs for employees to be trained in different roles that the company
has to offer in different departments of the organization. They dont stop at their
own employees, the company also offers a type of training program for local
business owners.
The Coca-Cola system is their production and distribution network and the
center of their business in India. In India the system consists of the wholly owned
subsidiary Coca-Cola India Private Limited, , with a company owned bottling entity,
Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Limited, and thirteen other licensed bottling
partners of the Company in India. These non-companies owned bottling partners
are authorized by the Coca-Cola Company to package and sell their products under
specified trademark rules of the company. The distribution system is made up of
distributors, retailers and customers that are in charge of getting the portfolio of
products the Company available all across India.
The products of Coca-Cola India are an important factor in the micro
economy in the country mainly in the small towns and villages, adding new jobs and
increasing GDP. Coca Cola India is one of the largest domestic buyers of certain
agricultural products. The Company uses its strength as an organization to provide
for the local needs of the countries they are in business with. They use their
distribution centers for disaster relief, their marketing expertise to promote
awareness of certain issues, and their presence in the community to improve access
to safe water and other needs. The company bases a high value on good citizenship,
which applies globally. Their goal as a company is to refresh the market; enrich the
workplace; protect and preserve the environment; and strengthen the community.
All of these I believe are extremely prominent in Coca-Colas operations overseas in
India. They are a company has an extreme amount of care and consideration for
their global operations. They are a strong company that is able to incorporate their
profitable expertise in their field while bettering the community in a number of

ways that seems to continue. Coca Cola India has plans for 2020 and long term goals
within their region they hope to fulfill and without a doubt they will continue to
maintain a great relationship with their surroundings. In terms of volume, India is
currently the sixth largest market for the Coca Cola Company. On the road to acquire
a spot in the top 5, the company also plans to invest $5 billion in India until 2020. In
the last couple of years the Companys growth in India has come back within the
double digits.