PepsiCo will open 2 new plants in India to compete with Mukesh Ambani’s Campa Cola, CEO gave this important information
Mukesh Ambani’s company Campa Cola is set to dominate the Indian market. PepsiCo has already started preparations to compete with it. Jagrut Kotecha, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of India and South Asia, said that PepsiCo will ‘not shy away from investing’ in India and plans to open two more plants, one of which will be in the southern region. Kotecha said, “We believe that India will be the engine of growth for PepsiCo and will drive the top line. Yes, it is not as big as North America because it is a much more developed category.” Currently, India ranks among the top 15 markets globally for PepsiCo. Kotecha expects the country to move up in the rankings, although he did not share any specific estimates. India is one of the ‘key big markets’ for the company based in Harrison, New York, where it re-entered in the 1990s after a gap of 28 years. According to Kotecha, PepsiCo is in line with the Prime Minister’s (Narendra Modi) 2030 goal of India being among the top three economies in the world by then.
Varun Beverages also made huge investments
In the last three years, PepsiCo has invested around Rs 3,500-4,000 crore in the Indian market. Apart from this, PepsiCo’s bottling partner Varun Beverages Limited (VBL) is also investing heavily. In the beverage sector, it offers brands like Mountain Dew, 7Up, Pepsi, and Sting and sports drink product Gatorade, while in juice it has Tropicana and Slice brands. Kurkure, Lay’s, Quaker and Doritos are also its brands. The Indian beverage market is worth around $12 billion and is growing at an annual rate of 10-11 percent.
Preparation to double revenue from India
Kotecha has said that the company is aiming to double its revenue in India in the next five years. The company is looking at India as a ‘key market’, where it is investing ‘aggressively’ to increase its capacity. Kotecha said India will be a “growth engine” for PepsiCo in driving global revenues as it is one of the top three markets for the company where it is recording double-digit growth. PepsiCo offers food, snacks and beverage products. Kotecha said PepsiCo has invested in new plants in Uttar Pradesh and Assam with the aim of staying ahead of demand. PepsiCo is working on three strategic pillars it calls “faster, stronger, better”. When asked about the timeline to achieve a revenue of two billion dollars (about Rs 17,000 crore) in the Indian market, Kotecha said, “It is a target. We have an aspiration to get there. If we do everything right with India’s infrastructure, I think this target is achievable.”
