Coca-Cola gears up for commercial launch of frozen fruit dessert

After a successful pilot, CocaCola has decided to expand its frozen fruit dessert offering in major metros. The move is part of the company’s strategy to build a product portfolio beyond carbonated drinks.

Coca-Cola India president T Krishnakumar said that by summer the company plans to take the offering in the top five metros. The company has been testing frozen fruit dessert products in Bengaluru.

The frozen fruit dessert offerings will not contain dairy products and sugar. The products made out of locally sourced fruits will be available in cups. With the launch of frozen fruit dessert, Coca-Cola aims to create a new product segment says Krishnakumar as these are not pure beverages. More than two years ago, the company first started testing the market with whipped frozen fruit desserts in Australia under the brand name Perfect Fruit. In every city, the company is planning to install 30-40 dispensers. The

investment involved in installing these dispenser machines initially will be borne by Coca-Cola.

India’s ice cream and frozen desserts market is projected to grow at an annual rate of 11 per cent between 2016 and 2021 and it is expected to reach ~170 billion, according to a December 2016 study by market research firm Euromonitor International. Coca-Cola is also planning to come out with a few value added dairy products largely ready to drink beverages by second half of 2018. Further, the company which wants to go more mass is planning to launch more local flavoured fruit beverages under its brand Minute Maid.

Pulpy Mosambi and Santra made from Indian fruits comes under Minute Maid and the company plans to roll out a variety of fruit juices from Indian fruits. The company plans to sell these products in packs priced at ~10, ~20 and in larger pack sizes. Talking about Coca- Cola’s export business from India,

Krishnakumar said the firm is working towards building one of its brands ThumsUp to be a billion dollar brand in the next three years. The company has started exporting ThumsUp to neighbouring countries including Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives and other South Asian countries.

Over the next five years, we and our partners have committed to invest around ~110 billion. Besides this the firm will also go ahead with capex investments worth ~5-6 billion.” T KRISHNAKUMAR

President Coca-Cola India