MUMBAI, February 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --
India's leading manufacturers and exporters of refrigeration equipment and agri-produce remain optimistic about the long-term potential of the economy and bullish about the reform measures being undertaken by the government.
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160216/10140225 )
In a roundtable at the Make In India Summit, attended by Athang Jain, Director - Jain Irrigation; Parmeet Singh Machre, Executive Director, Western Refrigeration; Rakesh Bhartia, CEO, India Glycols Ltd and Asim Parekh, Vice President, Technical and Supply Chain, Coca-Cola India at the Coca-Cola Pavilion, Stall No. 3, Hall 26, MMRDA Grounds, the panel wished the economy to grow at least 7.5% and the beverage industry by 12-14%, if their business was to remain robust and sustainable over the long term.
Mr. Parmeet Singh Machre, Executive Director, Western Refrigeration - the first Indian refrigeration company to supply retail cooling solutions in the global market - said, "We hope that the current improvement trend that we have seen in the GDP, continues. Our expectation is for a double digit growth for the beverage industry, which drives investment and business viability for us and our customers. We expect the government to create conditions that help the growth of the beverage industry and the food processing sector."
Western Refrigeration has been a supplier of retail cooling solutions to Coca-Cola and its bottling partners in India for the last 20 years and with Coca-Cola's support, now earns 35% of its annual sales revenues from exporting refrigeration systems. It is a supplier of products to Coca-Cola in 35 countries.
Rakesh Bhartia, CEO, India Glycols Limited - the exclusive supplier of bio-MEG to The Coca-Cola Company - said, "The government must take measures to ensure that Ethanol, which is usually diverted for blending with fuel, be made available for purposes like bio-MEG, if India was to reduce its carbon footprint and yet significantly catlayse the adoption of bio-friendly, safe and convenient packages like bio-based PET."
India Glycols Limited produces bio-MEG, which organisations like The Coca-Cola Company use to produce 'PlantBottle™', the first-ever fully recyclable PET Beverage bottle made partially from plants, functioning exactly like traditional PET packages. Bio-MEG has already been used in more than 4000 crore PlantBottles™ in 40 countries for more than 30 brands. As bio-MEG is made from molasses, the greenhouse gases emitted from 1 tonne of bio-MEG is only 1122.2 KGs, which is 655KGs CO2 equivalent less than the petro route in India.
Asim Parekh, VP, Technical and Supply Chain, Coca-Cola India, said, "Coca-Cola and its bottlers will invest an additional Rs. 32,500 crores in India by 2020, which will significantly boost the business prospects of suppliers and the beverage ecosystem. As per data available with us, every Rs. 1 invested by the beverage industry results in revenues of Rs. 2.5 for the value chain of manufacturers, distributors and suppliers linked to the beverage value chain."
He added that "Coca-Cola and its bottlers have established 6 new greenfield projects over the last 3 years in different parts of the country and are now in the process of commissioning 5 new beverage manufacturing factories over the next 2 years."
Athang Jain, Director - Jain Irrigation, said, "New innovations in the beverage industry like the launch of Fanta Green Mango by Coca-Cola India is encouraging for farmers and fruit puree suppliers like us. We are already the largest suppliers of fruit puree to Hindustan Coca-Cola having recently signed a Rs. 750 crore, 3 year contract with them. If the beverage industry grows 12-14%, it can only benefit the farmers."
Coca-Cola bottlers in India already contribute more than Rs. 4,200 crores to the Indian agriculture sector by procuring agri-produce like sugar, mango, litchi and guava pulp etc, green coffee and more, of which Rs. 1,350 crores is procured for the company's global operations.
Coca-Cola has developed a farm to consumer supply chain that encompasses 0.4M farmers, 212 supplier sites, 127 bottling warehouses, 13,000+ transport fleet and 2.4M+ retail shops. This extensive supply chain has created an amplifying impact on the manufacturing sector by enabling investments in products and infrastructure such as coolers, plant equipment and fleet through our broader ecosystem.
Coca-Cola has 57 plants across the country, representing the second largest concentration of plants for Coca-Cola in any country across the world. Over 95% of the raw materials to manufacture the company's beverages are procured locally and the company has invested in enhancing skills of its Indian suppliers through certification of sugar mills, imparting knowledge of advanced farming techniques and facilitating technology collaborations. Project Unnati is a shining example of how Coca-Cola collaborates with its partner Jain Irrigation to help in the development of mango farming in India and improving the livelihood opportunity of the farmers.
About Coca-Cola India:
Coca-Cola India is one of the country's leading beverage companies, offering a range of healthy, safe, high quality, and refreshing beverage options to consumers. Over the last 22 years, ever since its re-entry in 1993, the company has been refreshing consumers with its beverage products - Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Zero, Diet Coke, Thums Up, Fanta, Limca, Sprite, Sprite Zero, Maaza, Maaza Milky Delite, VIO flavoured milk 'Almond Delight' and 'Kesar Delight', Minute Maid range of juices, FUZE Iced tea, Georgia and Georgia gold range of hot and cold tea and coffee options, Schweppes, Kinley and Bonaqua packaged drinking water and Kinley Club Soda. The Company along with its bottling partners, through a strong network of over 2.6 million retail outlets, touches the lives of millions of consumers, at a rate of more than 500 servings per second. Its brands are some of the most preferred and most sold beverages in the country - Thums Up and Sprite - being the top two selling sparkling beverages.
The Coca-Cola India system already provides direct employment to 25,000 people and indirect employment to more than 150,000 people. The Coca-Cola system in India is contributing in its own small way to building sustainable communities and reducing its own environmental footprint. Some of our community development programs include the 'Parivartan' and 'Pragati' retailer training program, Career Development centers to train youth and make them employable, women empowerment program as a part of the global 5BY20 campaign, Unnati - a sustainable mango farming project etc.
For further information on the company's India operations and its products, please visit: http://www.coca-colaindia.com
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