India a market of future, will invest ahead of curve: Coca-Cola

New Delhi, Feb 10 (PTI) Global beverage major the Coca-Cola Company on Wednesday said India is a “market of the future” and a “long-term contributor of volume growth” where it will continue to make investments “ahead of the curve” along with its bottling partners.

However, Coca-Cola, along with other beverage players, has to bear the impact of seasonality-related issues such as rain and others, which affect its business.

“In India, we had last year different impacts from industry impact, dynamics, weather, and it was a market that we continue to invest also ahead of the curve. We believe that it will get back on track in 2026,” said the Coca-Cola Company CEO-Elect Henrique Braun while replying to a query in an investor call.

When asked whether

there would be a step up in marketing and innovation investments in India, he said: “I think it’s a strategy that has been working for us.” The company has been ‘investing’ with its bottling partners “ahead of the curve”.

He stated India was a market that would be a long-term contributor to overall volume growth.

“The level of investment that we had on new lines needed that has been unprecedented,” said Braun, who will take over the position of CEO on March 31.

The Coca-Cola company will continue to invest because India is a “market for the future”.

“We are still building the industry there and that’s why we need to continue to invest ahead of the curve, because it’s more on the model that building will come, right? Because really, on this market … you can actually continue to push forward. Digital, it’s part of this,” he said.

Braun also mentioned that Coca-Cola is also focusing on engaging with the consumer through data tech and AI, and has also developed a platform, Coke Buddy, which is a self-ordering platform for retailers.

“We are still at one fourth of the entire outlet base that we can reach in India. But we think that we are already deploying digital ordering, AI, and genetic AI to determine the next best SKU. And the next phase of that growth will ) be an end to end digital platform that will connect not only the consumer, the customers, but the experiences to translate that engagement into transaction,” he said.

So India, for those reasons, is a market that from that space, it’s going to continue to be ahead of the pack as well.

While its Chairman and CEO James Quincey, replying to a query said the company is investing in the business as the business needs.

“About a quarter of our capital investment this year and last year goes towards the franchises that we still own in Africa and India,” he said.

Coca-Cola, in its fourth quarter earnings release, said in terms of performance of bottling investments, which refer to company-owned bottling operations, “Unit case volume declined 6 per cent for the quarter, largely due to a decline in India and the impact of refranchising bottling operations.” India is the fifth-largest market for the Coca-Cola Company, and recently, Quincey, who was on a visit, said it may become one of its top three markets in the coming years. PTI KRH KRH MR