Coca-Cola: A journey over 120 years old

Little drops of joy’ as they call it, soft drink and beverages brand Coca-Cola came into existence in 1886 in Atlanta, New York, USA. From selling only nine glasses of drinks a day initially, after a successful stint of operation for over 120 years, the company currently produces more than 10 billion gallons of drink a day and sells its products across 200 countries worldwide. With more than 450 brands, the company is one of the largest beverage companies in the world keeping the language of refreshment universal across the globe. The product comes into existence:It was1886 in New York Harbor when the construction of the Statue of Liberty was in progress, John Pemberton, a pharmacist in Atlanta, was intrigued by a fragrant caramel-coloured liquid. He carried it a few doors down to Jacobs' Pharmacy where the mixture was combined with carbonated water and sampled by customers who all agreed — that this new drink was something special. Jacobs' Pharmacy then put it on sale for five cents a glass. Later, Pemberton's bookkeeper, Frank Robinson, named the mixture Coca-Cola and wrote it out in a distinct script, the same way it is in use these days. According to the company: “Quality is more than what we taste or see or measure. It shows in our every action. We relentlessly strive to exceed the world's ever-changing expectations because keeping our quality promise in the marketplace is our highest business objective and our enduring obligation.”Coca-Cola comes to India:In sync with the company’s global expansion plan, Coca-Cola entered India eventually and led the soft-drink market till 1977 when government policies necessitated its departure. The corporation re-entered India in 1993 after a 16 year hiatus, giving a new thumbs up to the Indian soft drink market. Following this move, the company made significant investments in the Indian market to ensure that the beverage was available to more and more people, even in the remotest and inaccessible parts of the country. In the same year, the company took over ownership of the nation’s top soft-drink brand and bottling network of Ramesh Chauhan's Parle. The brand earns loyality:More often than not, the company has enthralled consumers in India by connecting itself with their passions including cricket, movies, music and food. Sponsoring the World Cup in 1996 and various other tournaments including the Coca-Cola Cup in Sharjah in the late nineties, the brand became popular and famous among urban Indian population. Further, the company, through its advertising campaigns like Jo Chaho Ho Jaye and Life ho to Aisi entered youth vocabulary. In 2002, Coca-Cola launched it's iconic campaign ‘Thanda Matlab Coca-Cola’ which helped the brand to make it India's favourite soft-drink brand ever. Celebrities including Karishma Kapoor, Srinath and Sourav Ganguly also helped the brand to reach the masses. The trend further continued with the associations of brand ambassadors like Aamir Khan and Hrithik Roshan.Brands in its portfolio:Coca-Cola is the most popular and biggest-selling soft drink brand with over 700 beverage products in its kitty. The products are categorised largely under seven heads including energy drinks, juices, soft drinks, sports drinks, tea and coffee and water. But the brand Coca-Cola is popular in and around for its soft drink ranges that include Coca-Cola, Thumbs Up, Sprite, Fanta, Limca and Maaza. While Kinley is the bottled water range of Coca-Cola, Georgia serves as a ready-to-drink canned coffee in over seven variants.Growth trajectory in India:Coca-Cola India is among the country’s top international investors. Since its inception, the company has been making significant investments to build and continually consolidate its business in the country, including new production facilities, waste water treatment plants, distribution systems and marketing channels. During the first decade of operation, the company invested over USD 1 billion in India and further pledged another USD100 million in 2003 for its operations. Not only that, Coca-Cola has entered the rural untapped market giving an impression to the industry that if an MNC does its homework well and gets its distribution mix right, it need not restrict itself to India's urban middle class. Coke now claims that 80 per cent of its new drinkers come from rural India, where per capita consumption has nearly doubled during the last few years. Currently, the company is operational with over 65 manufacturing locations across 18 states in India. Products launched in 2008:In the last year, the company has added eight new variants in its portfolio. Starting with espresso-based coffee Ilko in March 2008, the new products launched in the year include an antioxidant brand Nestea with green tea flavours, juice range Simply Orange, energy drink Full Throttle, chilled tea variety Gold Peak, NESTEA with red tea pomegranate passion fruit flavour, Sprite green and thirst quencher Odwalla. Products on the anvil:With the roll out of Sprite variant Sprite Apple nationwide recently which was earlier available only in southern market, the company is further ready with an extensive range of products to roll out across the country including low-priced powder drink Vitingo and energy drink Burn in this year. Atul Singh, president and CEO, Coca-Cola India, said, “Timing for us is very important. We are always evaluating different categories of products and as we believe is the right time, we will bring these products in the market.” Further, Singh informed that the company is on it’s way to go ahead with earlier announced USD 250 million investment plans. The company is also working on introducing a lemonade later in the year that would be its third lime-based drink, besides the existing Sprite and Limca brands. Meanwhile, the company has also tied up with cricketer Gautam Gambhir for the summer campaign targeting huge cash amidst the forthcoming IPL tournament. Though Singh does not want to speculate about the returns from the proposed campaign, he is very excited with the signage and said: “Let the IPL start and let's see what happens.” CSR initiatives: Keeping its business plans rolling, Coca-Cola always stands apart thanks to its corporate social responsibility initiatives. Globally, the company is consistently working hard to find out mechanisms to minimise the use of water in its production plants. Further, the company is aggressively working with NGOs for water conservation across the world. As part of the plan, recently, Coca-Cola India signed an agreement with country’s leading NGO SOS Children’s Village to develop rain water harvesting plants across 39 SOS locations in India. For the proposed project, the company will invest USD 585,000 of which USD 391,920 has been granted by the Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Foundation. Atul Singh, president and CEO, Coca-Cola India, said, “Our sustainability as a business demands a relentless focus on efficiency and prudence in our use of natural resources. Water is fundamental to all communities and water stewardship remains a priority for Coca-Cola India. At our end, we pursue a 3R programme of water conservation that includes reduced use of water, recycling of water and replenishing the water.” Also, the company has signed an agreement with Bharat Integrated Social Welfare Agency (BISWA) to reach to around one million women and children to provide affordable alternatives to alleviate ‘Hidden Hunger’ by 2010. Speaking about the same, Shourov Mukherjee, director — strategic initiatives, Coca-Cola India, said, “At Coca-Cola India, it has always been our effort to ensure sustainability of our communities and make a difference to their lives. This is a one of its kind NGO-Corporate collaboration to reach to the pockets identified as under-serviced. We intend to cover 500 self help groups by June, 2009.” These success stories notwithstanding, the company has had to face several controversies, especially the much discussed pesticide controversy in 2003. But, true to its professed commitment of delivering quality at all costs, Coca-Cola continues to delight existing customers while adding new ones every minute.