US Coca-Cola keen to be big player in Indian 'fruit circular economy'
23 Feb 2018 5:18 PM GMT
Chennai: Expanding its fruit based beverage offerings, frozen fruit dessert, getting into dairy based value added products and also exporting those products developed in India, are some of the plans of Coca-Cola India Pvt Ltd, said a top company official.
He said the company's focus will be on 'fruit circular economy'-- enabling farmers to increase their yield, source pulp and launch fruit based products.
The company is also planning to launch vegetable based beverage like carrot juice.
"We are in the process of developing different fruit beverages including based on regional fruits and would soon be launching them.
"Similarly we will also expand our portfolio of fruit flavoured sparkling drinks like Fanta.
"After successful piloting of our frozen fruit dessert in Bengaluru, we will launch the product in major cities this April," T.Krishnamukar, President, Coca Cola India and Southwest Asia told select media here late on Thursday.
He said the company plans to launch fruit juices based on the regional preferences. For instance, the company would launch mango juices based on mango varieties that are available and popular in a particular region so that there is also a local connect. "We are also working on a product based on gooseberries," he added.
According to him, the company has tied up with Jain Irrigation that operates fruit pulping plants in different regions.
"We have tied up with Jain Irrigation for sourcing and pulping mango fruit. Similarly we have a tie up with that company for oranges in Maharashtra.
"We expect Jain Irrigation may start setting up an orange pulping plant and the first commercial orange pulp may be available sometime in 2020," Krishnakumar added.
He said the company's focus on fruit beverages is in line with its philosophy of 'beverage for life' meaning to have a product for people in different age groups.
"The philosophy now is to make the company bigger than the Coca-Cola brand. Presently the Coca-Cola group is a $21 billion brand," he said.
According to Krishnakumar, Coca-Cola India with its focus on the 'fruit circular economy' will enable the growth in demand for fruits which in turn would improve the farm practices and increase the farmer income.
"We felt we should be more relevant to the local community. Tastes, views vary based on regions. So we have to move global to local and local to global," he said.
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