Beverage major Coca-Cola on Thursday said it witnessed signs of improvement in markets such as India in the July-September period as the world grapples with the Covid-19 pandemic. It also said local brands such as Thums Up in India saw growth in the third quarter ended September 25.

Commenting on the performance of the Asia-Pacific region on an earnings call, James Quincey, Chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company said, “China is on its way to emerge stronger through solid performance in sparkling soft drinks and recovery efforts in India and Japan continue and we have seen meaningful improvement in the face of ongoing restrictions.”

“Across our channels and regions our brand portfolio is working hard to return to pre-Covid levels of growth and we have made progress in the quarter,” he said adding that “local champions” such as Thums Up in India saw growth in the third quarter. In a statement on the third quarter earnings, the beverage major said in Asia pacific region unit case volume declined by 4 per cent due to coronavirus-related restrictions in India and Japan. Commenting on performance of bottling investments, the company added, “Unit case volume declined 10 per cent, driven by India and South Africa due to the impact of the coronavirus.”

“The company reported improvement in trends versus the prior quarter, with revenue declines versus the prior year driven by ongoing pressure in away-from-home channels partially offset by sustained growth in at-home channels,” Coca-Cola said in its earnings release.