Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages names Kamlesh Kumar Sharma as Chief Communication Officer

FMCG major, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages (HCCB), has unveiled its beverage exclusive outlet at the Krantivira Sangolli Rayanna (KSR) Railway Station in Bangalore.

HCCB thus became the first Total Beverage Company in India to open an exclusive outlet inside a railway station in India in collaboration with IRSDC.

The IRSDC is constituted by the Government of India as a special purpose vehicle under the Ministry of Railways to develop and redevelop existing and new railway stations in India. 

Set up as a pilot project, the beverage exclusive outlet is essentially meant to cater to the hydration needs of commuters visiting the Bangalore City Railway Station where the footfall is high.

The HCCB kiosk will serve through a wide range of its beverage portfolio that spans across sparkling, juice, and energy drinks.

"We feel privileged to partner with India Railways in their effort to provide clean, safe and hygienic range of beverages to their passengers. What is more heartening is the fact that we are launching this initiative at a city where our headquarters is located. The outlet at Bengaluru City Station is in sync with our commitment to provide our range of beverages to our consumers at arm’s length,” said Dinesh Jadhav, Executive Director, Market Operations, HCCB.

The company in collaboration with India Railways plans to set up similar beverage only kiosks in many other railway stations of the country.

In response to growing consumer preferences for healthier beverages and perpetual competition in the market, Coca-Cola has announced the launch of a no-sugar variant of its biggest cola brand, Thums Up.

Coca-Cola VP marketing Vijay Parasuraman said Thums Up was the beverage maker's first home grown brand in a no-sugar variant.

"Our objectives is to make Thums Up a US$ 1 billion Indian brand. The new launch will help us widen the brand’s footprint and accelerate its growth,” he said.

The home grown Thums Up is the country's biggest cola, ahead of global cola brands Coke and Pepsi.

Last year, the company had introduced the first variant of Thums Up in the form of Thums Up Charged. It already sells Coke Zero and Sprite Zero in India. Thums Up no sugar has been sweetened with sucralose.

Soft drink maker Coca-Cola is set to introduce its core aerated soft drink brands Sprite, Limca and Fanta with fruit juice this summer.

In last three years since PM Modi first urged cola companies to blend aerated drinks with 5% juice from fruits produced by farmers Coca Cola is experimenting on fruit based drinks.

A Coca-Cola spokesperson said, “Under our virtuous fruit circular economy initiative, we propose to use Indian fruit products in as many beverages as possible; adding juice to our carbonated flavour products is one of those options. As we go forward, we will continue to explore with other carbonated flavour brands.”

An official directly aware of the developments said, “Coca-Cola’s global leadership team including Asia Pacific group president John Murphy, who was in Kolkata last weekend, reviewed the upcoming launches for India — the beverage giant’s sixth biggest market globally.”

He added, “The products have already been developed. Fruit juices are being added across Coca-Cola’s non-cola aerated drinks portfolio; these will be irrespective of tax incentives by the government for fruit-based aerated drinks. He added that besides broadbasing its beverage portfolio, the company is hopeful that addition of fruit juice could bring back consumers who have turned away from sugary aerated drinks.”

A Coca-Cola spokesperson also said that the company’s existing products will be available alongside the fruit based drinks.

Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd (HCCB), one of India’s top FMCG companies, is planning to become a complete beverage company by manufacturing products in every category that has consumer relevance. 

While HCCB has traditionally been focusing on carbonated beverages and juices,it is now investing on infrastructure that can produce flavoured milk products, mineral fortified hydration products, fruit based products and traditional Indian drinks like Jalzeera flavoured Rimzhim.

T Krishnakumar, President, Coca-Cola India and Southwest Asia, said, "HCCB is one of largest institutional buyers of agricultural produce and fruit pulp – worth more than Rs 2000 crore – benefitting 250000 farmers. In the next 5 years, Hindustan Coca-Cola along with the 13 other franchise bottlers of The Coca-Cola Company in India plan to spend Rs 5200 crore towards the procurement of processed fruit pulp and fruit concentrate. This will have a direct positive impact on more than 500000 farmers."

Christina Ruggiero, CEO, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd, said, "My focus going forward is to build HCCB into a ‘total beverage company’ that has a play in all beverage categories of relevance. This also involves building the HCCB brand which involves more public outreach and communication with stakeholders."

Coca Cola, one of teh largest bottling manufacturers in India has been fined Rs 15 lakh by the Uttar Pradesh government for selling soft drinks beyond the expiry date. A distributor of the company's products was also fined Rs 1 lakh by Additional District Magistrate Vishal Singh in the Bulandshahar district who is in charge of food safety.

The action came after five samples of the company's soft drinks collected in 2012 were found to be 'sub-standard' in tests conducted at the state government laboratory in Lucknow.

According to Singh, large quantities of soft drinks which have passed expiry dates were found during a raid at the distributor's godown.

"The order was signed yesterday and company has been given 15 days time to deposit the sum into the state treasury. At the same time they can appeal against the order," added Singh.

When contacted, a spokesperson of Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages (HCCB) said the company has not received any such order till date.

"On receipt (of the order) HCCB will review and take appropriate legal recourse. We are confident of the safety and quality of our products and would reassure our consumers of the same. We exercise stringent quality and safety measures specifically designed to prevent any product integrity issues," said the spokesperson.

According to local distributor Rajesh Sharma, he had intimated the company about the expired stock and alleged that it wasn't taken back.