Amidst speculation of a cola price-war, Coca-Cola India on Thursday said it has “broadly” kept prices of its entry packs unchanged since last year. With Reliance Consumer Brands bringing back 50-year-old Campa to retail shelves, the spotlight is back on cola wars this summer season.
“We have broadly kept the same prices since last year for all our entry packs. Consumer centricity plays a prominent role in all Coca-Cola operations. Having new players in the market presents a great opportunity for investments to develop the market further and bring innovations to evolve the category and ultimately benefit the consumers,” a spokesperson for Coca-Cola India said.
Strong momentum
The company added that the beverage sector is seeing strong momentum in India and that it sees opportunities to serve consumers with “more packaging size options and price points” that feed on the pocket of the consumers. In February, the global beverage major had said 2022 was a “cracking year” for its India business and that the market is set to “take off.”
PepsiCo India also said there has been no change in prices.
Return to shelves
Last week, Reliance Consumer Products Ltd (RCPL) said the Campa portfolio is being launched with three variants — Campa Cola, Campa Lemon and Campa Orange — in the sparkling beverage category. This has sparked speculation of the dominant brands looking to up the ante in terms of promotions even in an inflationary environment.
Reliance acquired the 50-year old brand from Pure Drinks Group for about ₹22 crore in 2022. The company has launched the Campa portfolio in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana through the dealer network. In many other States such as West Bengal, Delhi and Maharashtra, the products are available on JioMart and in select Reliance SMART outlets.
The All India Consumer Products Distributors Federation has said it is closely watching the situation while expressing concerns about distributors’ margins getting squeezed due to “unethical competition” among players.