Coca-Cola India expects Maaza to join the billion-dollar brand club over the next two years, after Thums Up and Sprite.

The company said it has been doubling down on its small pack strategy to grow household penetration amidst inflationary pressures. The company is also gearing up for a major push in the premium hydration space driven by brands such as Schweppes and Smartwater.

‘Our ambition’

Sanket Ray, President, Coca-Cola India and South-West Asia said, “We would love for our juice brand Maaza to become a billion dollar brand and that is clearly our ambition. But it may take time. With the surge in mango pulp prices that we have seen in recent times, we do not know how the next year will shape up. If it happens next year that will be good. But it should happen by 2024.”

The beverage major has been doubling down on its small packs strategy to grow household penetration and tackle inflationary pressures. In a bid to grow in-home consumption, the company has been focusing on offering multi packs of small PET bottles in urban markets. Depending on the channel, small packs contribution to the company’s revenues varies from 40-55 per cent and the company said added it will further strengthen small packs play in the coming years.

“We are actually seeing a double whammy of inflation and currency depreciation. The overall commodity cycle has been challenging. We have been focusing on enterprise-wide saving initiatives as well as taking measures for revenue growth management. While we took price hikes at the start of the year on some bigger packs, magic price points of ₹10 and ₹20 have been maintained. Smaller PET bottles are also more profitable for us. We have also focused on cutting back on promotional pricing in certain segments for efficiency and investing in flexible moulds for PET packs,” Ray explained.

Rural demand

Asked about outlook on rural demand, he said, “Some of the macro-economic factors are giving us confidence that rural growth will come back. Monsoons have been good except in a few pockets. The government’s capex programme is also expected to generate more employment. The gap between rural and urban growth rates has come down.”

The company is also gearing up for a major push in the premium hydration space. “We are looking to scale up our existing premium hydration brands and also drive penetration in premium channels. We have another plant in North India for Smartwater and will launch range of new offerings under Schweppes,” he added.

Coke2Home

Talking about the e-commerce strategy, Ray said that besides strengthening presence on B2B and B2C platforms, the company sees strong potential in the government’s Open Network for Digital Commerce for direct consumer reach. “It’s in an experimental phase. Our platform Coke2Home is registering as a supplier,”he added.

Responding to a query on entry of new players such as Reliance in aerated beverage segment, Ray said that the entry of more players will help in growing category penetration and strengthen the shift from non-branded to the branded segment in the country.

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