Sandesh Prabhudesai
2 May 1998
Coca Cola, the Atlanta-based soft drink multinational, is going offensive to counter its rival - the Pepsi.
While retaining its monopoly in the Goan market even after its main bottler shifted over to the Pepsi India in November last year, the Hindustan Coca Cola is now setting up a huge bottling plant here.
Goa Bottling Ltd of Timblos, the erstwhile Coke bottlers, revolted against certain conditions laid down by the franchise owners and tied up with a small bottler of Pepsi in the state, the United Breweries Ltd, owned by mine-owner Dempos.
The plan is to now expand in a big way in the whole Konkan belt, covering two districts of Maharashtra, Goa state and upto Mangalore as well as Dharwar district in Karnataka.
Land has already been acquired at Verna industrial estate around 25 acres, which would include 8000 sq mts of built-up area for the plant. The Rs 30 crore plant is expected to be commissioned by end of the year, to meet the requirements of the whole Konkan belt.
In order to retain its market hold of around 65 per cent in the organised sector, Coke has been importing around 15,000 crates every day from Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujrat, spending around Rs 3.75 lakh on transportation alone, besides supplies in Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts of Maharashtra and Dharwar district of Karnataka.
Meanwhile, they tied up with Top Cola, a local bottler, for producing around 1200 crates of Bisleri on daily basis, which could not meet Goan requirement. Its another tie up in Mangalore with Suprenica Breweries Ltd for soft drinks has been commissioned since May, having capacity of bottling 10,000 crates per day.
The Goa plant, to be owned by Coca Cola South West Ltd, will be having the most sophisticated machinery of 600 BPM, working on two lines, with a capacity of bottling 60,000 crates per day, if operated in three shifts. It is thrice the capacity of the GBL, which was bottling Coke earlier.
The Coke is also planning to set up the most sophisticated affluent treatment plant for the discharged water, around 600 cubic metres per day, which could be recycled and utilised for gardening the industrial estate and for the farmers in the surrounding villages.
The plant, once commissioned, is expected to meet the market requirements of Goa as well as two Konkan districts each in Maharashtra and Karnataka as well as the southern state's Dharwar district.
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