The Coca-Cola Company formally launched its bottling operations in Bhutan, at Pasakha, today. The carbonated beverages market in Bhutan is estimated at about three lakh cases-a-year.
Coca-Cola operations in Bhutan had been facing logistics and supply bottlenecks till now because of the absence of a local bottling unit. Coke had to serve Bhutan from its bottling plant at Jalpaiguri in West Bengal.
The company said it had around 40 per cent market share despite the distant supply chain from its Jalpaiguri unit.
In the Bhutan market, cola consumption accounts for 65 per cent of the total carbonated soft drinks.
Coca-Cola officials announced at the inauguration that the franchised facility was being set up in collaboration with a local partner, the Rs 400 crore Tashi Group.
The project cost Rs 38.7 crore. It has the highest capacity among bottling plants in Bhutan at 300 bottles per minute for drinks packed in returnable glass bottles.
