Case Study: Coke and Pepsi Learnt to Compete in India

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CASE 1-3 Coke and Pepsi Learn to Compete in India THE BEVERAGE BATTLEFIELD In 2007, the President and CEO of Coca-Cola asserted that Coke has had a rather rough run in India; but now it seems to be getting its positioning right. Similarly, PepsiCo’s Asia chief asserted that India is the beverage battlefield for this decade and beyond. Even though the government had opened its doors wide to foreign companies, the experience of the world’s two giant soft drinks companies in India during the 1990s and the beginning of the new millennium was not a happy one. Both companies experienced a range of unexpected problems and difficult situations that led them to recognize that competing in India requires special knowledge, skills, and local expertise. In many ways, Coke and Pepsi managers had to learn the hard way that “what works here” does not always “work there.” “The environment in India is challenging, but we’re learning how to crack it,” says an industry leader. they had to finance their own R&D in order to find a substitute ingredient. Many failed and quickly withdrew from the industry. Competing with the segment of carbonated soft drinks is another beverage segment composed of noncarbonated fruit drinks. These are a growth industry because Indian consumers perceive fruit drinks to be natural, healthy, and tasty. The leading brand has traditionally been Parle’s Frooti, a mango-flavored drink, which was also exported to franchisees in the United States, Britain, Portugal, Spain, and Mauritius. OPENING INDIAN MARKET In 1991, India experienced an economic crisis of exceptional severity, triggered by the rise in imported oil prices following the first Gulf War (after Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait). Foreign exchange reserves fell as nonresident Indians (NRIs) cut back on repatriation of their savings, imports were tightly controlled across all sectors, and industrial

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