Coca-Cola India8217;s H1 sales up 31

NEW DELHI, July 3: Coca-Cola India has achieved a growth of 31 per cent in sales volume in the first half of 1998. With this growth in volum...

NEW DELHI, July 3: Coca-Cola India has achieved a growth of 31 per cent in sales volume in the first half of 1998. With this growth in volumes in January-June, Coke expects to end the current year with an overall growth of 25 per cent. This is in sharp contrast to the nominal 5 per cent growth that Coke recorded in India in 1997.

Coke released these figures at a meeting held at its Atlanta headquarters last week. The meeting, a pow-wow session between the company8217;s senior executives and independent financial analysts, was chaired by Coca-Cola chief executive officer CEO Douglas M Ivester.

Coca-Cola8217;s sales worldwide in 200 countries recorded a growth of 10 per cent in 1998. The average growth for the Asian region was between 7 per cent and 8 per cent.

Coke attributed the sales growth in the country to an increase in retail outlets coupled with aggressive marketing. quot;The planks which we used to push volumes are strong distribution backed by an advertising strategy which connected with the consumer,quot;said Coca-Cola India vice-president operations, Atul Singh. Coke increased its retail outlets from 4 lakh to 6 lakh this year.

The sales growth is reflected in the strong performance of the individual Coke brands in India. The various Coke-owned brands grew as follows: Fanta 70 per cent, Limca 53 per cent and Thums Up 35 per cent. Coke sales recorded a 48 per cent growth in volume terms in 1998. Coke is the market leader in soft drinks in India, with a 57 per cent market share. The company expects that the soft-drinks market will record an overall growth of more than 20 per cent in 1998.

The soft-drinks industry did not fare well last year owing to a truckers8217; strike at the beginning of the peak summer season and high excise rates.

Demand this year is expected to pick up due to the searing summer season. The industry is expecting a take-off in home consumption and consumption in non-metro cities. An ORG survey on the soft-drinks industry for January-April 1998 lists Coke8217;s market share invarious cities.

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The real thing8217; has a 48.2 per cent market share in Mumbai and a 48.4 per cent share in Delhi. Its market share in other cities are: Calcutta 68.3 per cent, Chennai 48.5 per cent, Bangalore 50.6 per cent, Vishakhapatnam 57.7 per cent, Hyderabad 78.1 per cent and Ludhiana 74.4 per cent.