 "James Quincey")
Atlanta-based The Coca-Cola Company's President and Chief Operating Officer James Quincey will begin his India visit on Monday. A short, but crucial trip for the 50-year-old executive as he surveys some of Coke's key markets across the world.
Quincey, elevated to the current position this August, is responsible for Coca-Cola's worldwide operations in his new role. Prior to his promotion, Quincey was head of the firm's European region.
The tight schedule, concluding with Quincey's departure on Tuesday night, will see him interact with top management at the Indian unit, meet bottlers, speak to employees in an informal gathering, and conduct market visits in Delhi and Gurgaon.
The objective, according to persons in the know, is to understand the Indian market better. The world's largest beverage maker had committed $5 billion (Rs 30,000 crore) in this market three years ago.
In a recent interaction with Business Standard, Venkatesh Kini, president, Coca-Cola India and South West Asia, had said this investment was on course and it was tweaking its India strategy in response to market trends, as it looked to get into the top-five club of markets by 2020. India, for the record, is currently sixth in the pecking order of markets for Coca-Cola globally.
Premiumisation is one such consumer trend we are seeing, Kini said. "The economic growth in the country and the creation of a wealthy, urban class of consumers has created demand for products that are truly international. An example of this is Coke Zero, which we launched in response to consumer demand for a zero-calorie drink. We were getting Facebook likes for Coke Zero out of India long before it was here," Kini said.
Fuze Tea, another of Coca-Cola's billion-dollar global brands, that combines tea and fruit flavours, was launched recently in response to this consumer trend of premiumisation. The Indian unit of the US beverage maker is parallely carving out a separate channel of distribution for its premium products, which is expected to grow in the coming years.
Quincey is expected to take stock of all this, besides the company's drive to tap into the e-commerce waves sweeping the country.
Among the initiatives piloted are an online platform called Coke2home that allows consumers to directly order and get home-delivery of products, launched by the company-owned bottling entity, Hindustan Coca-Cola, in tie-ups with e-commerce websites. The company is also equipping its sales force with hand-held devices connected to the cloud, giving them instant access to outlets, their sales history and helping field staff to replenish stock.
Kini had also highlighted how the Indian unit was rapidly becoming a centre of frugal innovation for the company's worldwide network of operations. This comes as Coca-Cola globally moves ahead with cost-cutting plans and a shift to non-carbonated beverages.
