Coke, Mondelez see India as a top priority market

New Delhi: Amid global headwinds and saturated economies, consumer companies Coca-Cola and Mondelez have reiterated India as a top priority market at the just-concluded Consumer Analyst Group of New York (CAGNY) conference.

Coca-Cola's global chief financial officer John Murphy said the beverage maker will "continue to complete the play on refranchising, notably in India and Africa", adding that the company would invest more in new capabilities particularly technology, and optimise equity investments over time.

Coca-Cola, which sold 40% stake in Hindustan Coca-Cola Holdings, the parent entity of HCCB, to Jubilant Bhartia Group for about ₹12,500 crore over a year ago, will focus on "improved working capital", said Murphy, who is also president of the company. "We know we need to invest more in new capabilities, particularly with the role that technology increasingly plays in our lives. We have a capital allocation model that is tried and true, and has been in place," he said.


The maker of Coke and Thums Up sparkling drinks and Kinley water reported a gain of $102 million from sale (refranchising) of some of its bottling operations in the country in the year to December 2025, it announced in its earnings earlier this month.

India is the fifth largest market for Coca-Cola by volume sales.

"This year we (will) continue to support some of our bottling franchises that we own in Africa and India, but I see that number will go down over the next couple of years as we continue on that journey. We have made tremendous progress, particularly on our payables and receivables over the last few years to be almost there," he said.

Apart from the stake sale to the Jubilant Bhartia Group, which holds exclusive operating rights for Domino's Pizza and Dunkin' in India under group company Jubilant Foodworks, HCCB has sold some other bottling plants. The company has divested some of its bottling operations in parts of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Bihar, Northeast and West Bengal to existing independent franchise bottlers over the past two years, in line with its global asset-light strategy.

Confectionery maker Mondelez, which leads the India market by way of market share, focused its presentation, headed by its chief financial officer Luca Zaramella, at the same industry event on expanding a scaled, volume-led growth engine in emerging markets such as India.

The company said it is leveraging a local-first operating model, advantaged route-to-market capabilities and significant headroom across priority markets including India. "India represents one of our most compelling opportunities; a $1.7 billion revenue market with an impressive track record of growth and cash generation, four localised manufacturing facilities and catering to about 4.5 million stores," Zaramella said.

Mondelez has strong direct coverage in India at 2.5 million stores and expects to add 100,000 stores per year, he said.