India drives volume growth of Coca- Cola in Asia-pacific

Beverages major The Coca-cola Company on Friday said better growth in India and China helped it post 4 per cent volume growth in the Asia Pacific region during July-september quarter.

In a regulatory filing, the company said better growth in its packaged water business in India, led by brand Kinley, and certain other brands in Latin America lifted its global business by 2 per cent. Further, the Atlanta-headquartered company saw expansion of its premium water business in India. The portfolio is represented by the brand Smartwater that Coke had introduced last year. In the last one year, Coca-cola leveraged local celebrity endorsements and digital marketing to drive the brand, while expanding distribution in select channels as a premium offering. It said India was now the fourth-largest market globally for Smartwater, with a target to expand its reach to 90,000 outlets by the end of 2019.

“During the year, the company leveraged the leader, challenger, explorer framework to successfully grow Smartwater in India, where it has become the second-largest premium water brand in the market,” Coca-cola informed its investors.

Superior performance in the local market helped its regional bottling business post 2 per cent growth in its price-volume mix.

Chairman and CEO James Quincey said: “Our performance gives us confidence that our strategies are taking hold with our consumers, customers and system.”