Coca-Cola India
 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Consumer goods |
| Founded | Original: 1950 Relaunch: 1993 |
| Headquarters | , Udyog Vihar Industrial Area Phase 5, Gurgaon, Delhi |
Area served | India |
Key people | Sanket Ray (President and CEO), since 2020 |
| Products | Drinks & beverages |
Number of employees | 25,000 (direct) |
| Parent | The Coca-Cola Company |
| Website | https://www.coca-cola.com/in/en |
Coca-Cola India is a subsidiary of The Coca-Cola Company and operates in India.[1][2][3][4][5] Sanket Ray is President of India and Southwest Asia for The Coca‑Cola Company. Ray, who joined the company in 2004, was named to this position in 2020.[6]
Background
[edit]The Coca-Cola Company started operating in India in 1950. However, in 1977, they withdrew operations from the country in protest of regulations and legislation by the Government of India limiting the dilution of equity of multinational corporations. On 24 October 1993, they decided to re-enter the market, and have maintained a strong presence ever since.[citation needed]
Products
[edit]As of 2024, the company manufactures and sells the following products in India: [7]
- Coca-cola & its variants
- Sprite
- Thumps-up
- Kinley
- Limca
- Fanta
- Maaza
- Schweppes
- Charged
- Minute maid
- Smart water
- Rim Zim
- Costa Coffee
- Georgia
- Honest Tea
Sustainability
[edit]The company supports sustainable development and inclusive growth by focusing on issues relating to water, environment, healthy living, empowerment of women, sanitation and social advancement.
Coca-Cola India launched the 5by20 initiative in 2010, which is the company’s global program to economically empower 5 million women entrepreneurs across six industries by 2020.
Coca-Cola India and NDTV launched the Support My School initiative in association with the UN-Habitat, Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) in 2011. It undertakes activities such as providing improved access to water, sanitation facilities for adolescents, improving school infrastructure, supporting environmental causes, building sports and recreational facilities, and recharging groundwater through rainwater harvesting in government schools in rural and semi-urban areas across India.[citation needed]
Controversy
[edit]Centre for Science and Environment
[edit]Coca Cola sales in India declined 11% in the third quarter of 2003 due to allegations by the Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), which said the top 12 soft drink brands of PepsiCo and Coca-Cola contained pesticides and insecticides in excess of the limits set by the European Economic Commission (EEC).[8]
Plachimada plant
[edit]Coca-Cola had set up a factory in the tribal village of Plachimada in Kerala in 1999. The factory extracted huge quantities of groundwater for its production. The groundwater level receded and was found to be contaminated by the factory's operations, giving rise to health issues among the residents of the village. The company sold the slurry and sludge waste as fertilizer to locals, primarily engaged in farming, which was later found to contain dangerous levels of toxic metals in a study conducted by University of Exeter. Coca-Cola India executives, however, claimed that the fertilizer was "good for crops", and they had scientific evidence proving its safety. [9] Eventually, locals mobilized under the banner 'Coca-Cola Virudha Janakeeya Samara Samithy' (Anti Coca-Cola Peoples Struggle Committee) and demanded that the factory be closed and farmers be compensated.[10] The company initiated legal action against the protestors, which resulted in intimidation, arrests and false case being filed against the protestors.[11] They received support from neighbouring villages, environmentalists, politicians, scientists, and several civil society organizations.[12] The plant was forced to stop production in March 2004. The cause of the farmers became international with a BBC investigatory report and later in 2007 when college students in the United States ran a nationwide campaign calling for a boycott of Coca-Cola.[11][13] After a prolonged legal battle in Kerala High Court and then the Supreme Court, Coca-Cola relinquished its license in July 2017 and stated that it would not resume production in the plant.[10]
References
[edit]- ^ Mitra, Sounak (25 November 2014). "Coca-Cola's concentrates arm makes money". Business Standard India. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
- ^ Chowdhry, Seema (8 November 2012). "Atul Singh: Genie in a bottle". Mint. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
- ^ PTI. "Coca-Cola India to make 'Maaza' $1 bn brand by 2023". The Hindu. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
- ^ "Coca Cola launches Minute Maid `pulpy orange'". The Hindu Business Line. 20 February 2007. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
- ^ "Coca-Cola to launch milk drinks".
- ^ "Sanket Ray | Coca-Cola". www.coca-cola.com. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
- ^ "Coca-Cola Global Home | Super Categories". www.coca-cola.com. Retrieved 15 October 2024.
- ^ "Coca Cola sales fall by 11% on pesticide controversy". Business Standard. Archived from the original on 18 June 2013.
- ^ "Face The Facts investigates Coca-Cola plant in India". BBC. 24 July 2003. Archived from the original on 15 November 2021. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
- ^ a b "Water wars: Plachimada vs Coca-Cola". The Hindu. 15 July 2017. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
- ^ a b Bijoy, C. R. (2006). "Kerala's Plachimada Struggle: A Narrative on Water and Governance Rights". Economic and Political Weekly. 41 (41): 4332–4339. ISSN 0012-9976.
- ^ "Greenpeace demands closure of Coke plant". The Hindu. 5 August 2003. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
- ^ MacDonald, Christine (31 May 2018). "How Coke spun the public on its water use". The Verge. Archived from the original on 12 August 2021. Retrieved 24 November 2021.