INDIA BUSINESS WORLD -
THE MONTH THAT WAS

RC COLA RE-ENTERS, WEANS AWAY PEPSI'S NE BOTTLER

IT seems Pepsi and Coke will have to face not only a delayed summer, but also RC Cola's 're-launch' in India.
RC Cola, the third largest soft drink company in the world, has set up a definitive game plan for India in its 100th year of operation. For beginners, it has just managed to wean away Pepsi's north east bottler, North East Pure Beverages, run by the Zhimomi family into its fold. Besides, it has also finalised arrangements to start bottling operations at Ludhiana and Hyderabad to cater to the north and south markets, respectively.

According to sources, the head of RC Cola for South East Asia, Mr Krishna Mohan, is arriving here from the US today to give a new thrust to the US soft drink company's Indian operations.

Though a new entrant may eat a bit into the market share of the cola majors, Coca-Cola and Pepsi, which between them account for all most the entire Rs 4,000-crore soft drink market, RC Cola by its own admission does not aim to compete with the two majors. Over the last two months, RC Cola has been quietly increasing its presence in the north east, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh. Two years ago, around October 2003, as the soft drink companies were caught in the "pesticides controversy", RC Cola launched its products in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and parts of north and south India.

RC Cola was first introduced in `cola nut' (a tropical cola nut) flavour and subsequently in lemon and orange flavours. It was introduced in PET bottles of 600 ml and 2-litre, priced at Rs 15 and Rs 40, respectively. It had also appointed three franchisee bottlers in 2003. While Delhi-based Shivam Cool Drinks was appointed as RC Cola's bottler for the Delhi, western Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Uttaranchal and Chandigarh markets, Asian Lak Health Foods was appointed as RC Cola's bottler for Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh.