Coca-Cola CEO says don’t chase ‘irrational’ pricing as Campa Cola goes ₹10

Mumbai: Henrique Braun, chief executive of The Coca-Cola Company, said the beverage firm would not overreact to "irrational" pricing by rivals in India, even as Reliance Industries' Campa Cola has emerged as a major challenger.

He said aggressive pricing and short-term swings in market share were part of operating in a developing market and would not alter Coca-Cola's long-term strategy in India. "You might lose share in one quarter here, or you got something else and another player will have an irrational play on pricing," Braun said at the Barclays Global Consumer Staples Conference.

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Reliance claimed Campa Cola, the brand it revived in 2022, became the country's fourth-largest carbonated soft drinks brand in FY26, with gross sales of more than ₹4,700 crore.

"It is how you don't overreact to noise, but really act on the signals," Braun said.

Reliance has rapidly expanded Campa Cola since acquiring the brand, using its retail and distribution network and competitive pricing to challenge established beverage makers such as US-headquartered Coca-Cola and PepsiCo.

The market share of newer entrants, who are targeting impulse purchases through popular price points such as ₹10 and ₹20 bottles, increased to an estimated 6-7% in FY26 from 2% in FY24, according to a Crisil Ratings report. Due to increasing competition, established multinational players are expected to boost their marketing and distribution spending while expanding their capacity and infrastructure.

Braun said Coca-Cola would instead focus on the "fundamentals" of the business, including packaging architecture, brands and revenue-growth management.

"One of the things that we've learned is that the markets that are most resilient today to any headwind that you have were the markets that mastered those fundamentals," he said. "The noise will come. But staying true to that disciplined process and the playbook that has paid back over time-it's how we're going to continue to play that game."

India remains a long-term opportunity for Coca-Cola, Braun said, acknowledging that market share and growth would not move in a straight line.

"This is all things that happen in a market that's still being developed," he said.

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Coca-Cola is also relying on a locally tailored portfolio to compete. Seven of its brands are among India's top 10, Braun said, including four global brands and three local brands acquired by the company. The company's bottling network is another key part of its strategy, allowing Coca-Cola to combine its global scale with local market knowledge.

"One of the key elements of not losing that, it's our bottler footprint," Braun said.