Coca-Cola CFO on Competition in India: Campa, Others Push for Innovation

New Delhi, Jan 29 (PTI) Local players including Campa are doing a pretty "good job" in the Indian beverage market, said Coca-Cola's global president and chief financial officer John Murphy on Wednesday and added that rising competition in India helps his company to stay relevant and adapt to newer investment strategies.

The consumption of beverages in India is still relatively low and the industry's growth prospects are extremely positive driven by India's young population and increase in consumption expenditure.

Moreover, growing urbanisation has also helped access, further boosted by the digitisation of the country.

"The investments that the government has made over many years are now actually benefiting the people of the country. In turn, are creating opportunities for industries like ours. People need to drink beverages. Our job is to be their preferred choice," said Murphy in a media round-table here.

When asked about the competition faced from Reliance Industries' brand Campa, he said it invariably challenges us to be at our best.

"When we have no competition, we tend to get lazy, we tend to get complacent, and we do a good job, but we are not as good as we should be," he said.

Murphy also added "...in the case of India competitors, Campa is just one of many. There are a number of local, regional players who are doing a pretty damn good job too. We have our friends from Varun (Pepsi bottler Varun Beverages) who are doing a pretty good job, too, and it challenges us."

However, he also added the portfolio of Coca-Cola in India, which includes local brands such as ThumsUp, Maaza, Limca etc, is as stronger than anywhere in the world.

"You have to stay on your toes, adapt and make sure that you are investing in the capabilities that you need to win. We are more excited about the prospects for our business in India right now than we have ever been," added Murphy.

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries had acquired the then-defunct Campa brand in 2022 and relaunched it a year later. It has disrupted the beverage market with its Rs 10 pack in PET bottles, forcing the rival beverage makers to reduce their prices to retain their market share and continue their growth.

Earlier this month, in its earnings statement Reliance had said Campa is projected to cross Rs 1,000-crore turnover in FY25.

India is the fifth largest market for Coca-Cola globally.

About the prevailing inflation, he said the Indian consumers are pretty elastic but the company will maintain its magic price points.

"It is more of a game of leveraging the capabilities that you build by having multiple packages available at different price points to meet the needs of the consumer that you are catering," he said.

Murphy further said : "It is not to say that pricing does not have a role to play over time, because it does and yet, right now, the primary focus of our system here is building out that portfolio of packages that allows us to play at different price points.