NEW DELHI: Beverage major Coca-Cola on Tuesday said it will work at reviving the away-from-home channels of consumption over the next six months to a year as pandemic-related lockdowns and curbs on movement have wiped out a big chunk of the on-the-go business for beverage makers.
At the moment, a bulk of business for the company has moved to "in-home" consumption, T. Krishnakumar, president, Coca-Cola India and South West Asia, told reporters.
The company, in the meanwhile, is doing more to push more packs of Coke, Sprite and Minute-Maid in-home, driving low-pack sizes for households and accelerating presence across grocery stores in India.
"We are going to have a slow and steady revival of the away-from-home channels. So there is going to be some loss in terms of that occasion, so what we are trying to do is to create the same products for being consumed at home and put in some marketing to ensure that we create for consumers an opportunity to actually enjoy the loss of the away from home occasion at home," he told reporters.
The company scaled up new variants of Minute Maid—Nutri Force and Vita Punch—in the market on Tuesday.
Out-of-home consumption accounts for over 50% of sales for India’s beverage makers. But such channels--travel, hotels, bars, cinemas, offices--continue to work under restricted conditions.
As a result, several companies witnessed a slump in sales in the otherwise peak summer season.
Customers have gravitated towards in-home consumption as they spent more time indoors, consuming snacks and beverages, during the lockdown.
"We believe that, we will, over the next six months to one year revive the away-from-home channel because it is a very important channel. We are very clear that we have to work with the people there and make it come to life again. Because we play a significant role in it," he said.
Coca Cola has resumed production across its over 55 plants—including those owned by its bottling partners and the company-owned plants—in India, albeit at levels suited to demand in the region.
Krishnakumar said Coca Cola is ready with more products that will subsequently be rolled out.
"The way that demand has revived, we are very optimistic and we believe that if everything goes well, we could get back to normal in the next few quarters and then we'll be back to where we were in the first two months of this year. And we believe that as the government opens up more, I think we will have away from home coming," he said.
The comments follow the US parent reporting a sharp decline in unit case volumes for the three months ended 26 June because of a hit to consumption following a strict lockdown in India.
Globally, unit case volume—the number of unit cases of beverages directly or indirectly sold by the company and its bottling partners—declined 16% during the quarter.
The company's proposed investments for India remain intact, Krishnakumar said. "For us investments are not based on some happenings, yes, there could be some scheduling rescheduling, but we are absolutely on track."
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