Coca Cola to set up plants in north India

Venkatesh Kini, Coca Cola India’s vice-president, said there is huge demand for branded fruit pulp in the region. The company recently rolled out its Minute Maid Pulpy Orange in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh. Kini said the juice was soft launched in south India and got a tremendous response and the same is expected from north India.

For the northern states, the company imports from China but it is contemplating setting up processing and bottling units in this part of the country. Coca Cola India is therefore searching for multiple locations, north of Delhi, to set up new citrus juice and pulp processing plants. Coca Cola has a processing unit in Andhra Pradesh at Chittoor, to cater to market in the south.

According to Kini, the present size of processed juice in India is 50 million cases, which is only 10% of the total market for juices.

He added that the company was aligning capacities across the country to maximise its market share. After consolidating its position in the orange pulp and juice market, Coca Cola would diversify into other fruit flavours. The company is currently importing fruit juice and pulp, but would subsequently switch over to local farmers.

(Source: business-standard.com)