In a bid to expand its non-carbonated health drinks portfolio, Coca-Cola India on Tuesday announced the launch of its ready-to-drink iced-tea brand Nestea in Mumbai that will be made national next year.
While its sparkling drinks segment consisting of brands like Coca-Cola, Thums Up, Limca, Fanta, and water business Kinley make up for most of the business in India, non-carbonated drinks are promising to drive the next leg of growth.
Ricardo Fort, vice-president, marketing, Coca-Cola India, said going ahead the ratio of sales contribution from sparkling drinks and from non-carbonated drinks will see a change; and also will the business contribution from India to the global sales. “India currently figures in the top 10 businesses for The Coca-Cola Company and will be among the top 5 in coming years,” Fort said.
In the last one year, Coca-Cola has launched energy drink Burn, Minute Maid Nimbu Fresh, Minute Maid Apple and Mixed Fruit juices, and milk-based mango drink Maaza Milky Delite that is being test-marketed in Kolkata.
On the other hand, competitor PepsiCo India has been equally determined about offering health-based and non-carbonated drinks. This year, Tata Global Beverages and PepsiCo formed a joint venture to formulate non-carbonated drinks for the Indian market.
Tata Global Beverages is also test-marketing a tea and fruit-based energy drink T!On in southern India. Coca-Cola is manufacturing Nestea at subsidiary Hindustan Coca-Cola’s bottling plant at Atmakuru in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh and initially making it available in 400ml stock-keeping unit (SKU) for Rs25 at 8,000 outlets in Mumbai.
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