India on Coke radar for global services

Charting out a new growth strategy for India, soft drinks major Coca Cola today said it would turn to the country for its global services in different areas, including engineering and technical R&D, while announcing plans to enter new product segments.

The company, which also unveiled a new corporate logo keeping in tune with its new strategy, is also planning to set up retail university in India, besides setting up an equipment testing centre in Hyderabad to test coolers for Asia-Pacific.

"In the past four consecutive quarters, we have delivered good growth, with the last quarter clocking 12%. To enhance it further, our new initiative will follow a five-point strategy involving people, planet, portfolio, partners and performance," Coca Cola India President and CEO Atul Singh said.

He said as part of the plan, the company will capture Indian talent to meet its global requirements.

"The Indian talent pool will be utilised for meeting our global needs in areas like engineering, finance, marketing and technical R&D," he said.

"The retail university will train Indian retailers to compete with fast changing retail environment and bring global expertise for both employees, bottlers and key customers," Singh said.

The soft drink major, which has announced a $250 million investment in India for the next three years to enhance infrastructure, will also be expanding its product portfolio with plans to enter new segments.

"Sparkling beverages, energy drinks, sports drinks, flavoured water and juices are areas we are considering at the moment," Singh said, announcing the national roll-out of Coca Cola India's orange pulp drink 'Minute Maid'.

Asked if Coke, which acquired US energy drinks major Glaceau for 1.4 billion dollars, would bring any of the acquired brands in India, he said it was studying the market.

"Globally, we have 400 brands and over 1,000 products. We will bring whatever suits the Indian market," he said, adding that the company would also focus on bringing out localised flavours.

"We have already test-marketed Maaza Aam Pana, Bolder Fanta in some parts of the country, these may also be rolled out nationally," he added.

On the priority areas for investments in India, he said brand-building, sales, equipment, infrastructure like coolers and bottling lines, trucks and other distribution related materials would be the primary focus.

About the inorganic growth opportunities in India, Singh said: "We are keeping all options open and continue to evaluate them."