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Ratna Bhushan

Mr Rajeev Bakshi, Chairman, Pepsi Co India Holdings Pvt Ltd, with film star Shah Rukh Khan at the launch of `Pepsi Aha' in the Capital on Friday.

NEW DELHI, March 22

IT's scorching out there. With the cola majors busy sharpening their arsenal, it's a pitched battle all the way -- whether on television or in the marketplace.

According to figures released by IMRB, in the month of January-February, the combined market share of all carbonated soft drinks (CSD) beverages under PepsiCo's domestic product portfolio - including Pepsi, Mirinda Orange, Mirinda Lemon and 7 Up -- stands at 48.3 per cent. The IMRB data adds that with the exception of Mirinda Lemon, all PepsiCo beverages have led over Coca-Cola's brands in terms of market share in this period.

However, when contacted by Business Line, Coca-Cola's official spokesperson disagreed with these figures. According to ORG-MARG, which tracks market figures for Coca-Cola India, the combined market share of all Coca-Cola brands put together stands at 58 per cent. While declining to provide individual market share of brands under the company's portfolio, Coca-Cola India's official spokesperson said, "We do not agree with the figures given by PepsiCo. If our turnover last year was almost double theirs, how can their market shares be higher? The market shares they are stating are obviously questionable.''

Pepsi's official spokesperson reiterated that among colas, which occupy close to 70 per cent of the approximately 270-million-cases CSD market, Brand Pepsi's market share stands at 51 per cent. The combined market shares of Coca-Cola and Thums Up stands at 49 per cent, according to IMRB.

In the carbonated orange segment, which accounts for roughly 15 per cent of the overall CSD market, the market share for Mirinda Orange has been estimated at 53 per cent by IMRB. The market share of Coca-Cola's Fanta brand is estimated at 47 per cent.

In the cloudy lemon segment, which accounts for roughly 10 per cent of the CSD market, Coca-Cola's Limca brand leads PepsiCo's Mirinda Lemon by a huge margin. Limca has a 75 per cent size of this segment, while the share of Mirinda Lemon is 25 per cent. According to industry estimates, the share of the cloudy lemon segment has slipped below that of the orange segment. Interestingly, the cloudy lemon segment does not exist in most developed markets, and is primarily a developing country phenomenon.

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