Coca-Cola to rev up sales in RP
By Daxim Lucas
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 22:02:00 03/02/2008
Filed Under: Economy, Business & Finance
THE COCA-COLA COMPANY, THE WORLD’S largest beverage firm, will continue to expand its operations in the country by increasing its long-neglected distribution network, its president said.
In an interview with reporters last Friday, Coca-Cola president Muhtar Kent said the company’s local unit—Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines Inc.—has redeployed as many as 2,600 personnel as part of efforts to speed up the time for its beverages to reach the market.
“We have a strong belief in the future of the [Philippine] market,” he said, as he pointed out that the company has seen improvements in the sales volumes of its flagship product around the world, the local market included.
“The Philippines is in our top 15 markets worldwide and it has the potential to become one of our top 10 markets,” Kent said.
He explained that Coca-Cola was unhappy with how its local operations were being run just before it reacquired its local operations last year.
While a lot of work remains to be done to regain the company’s position in the local market, Kent said that significant gains have already been made, especially with its aggressive marketing efforts in recent months.
“There is so much work to do, but the trends are going the right way,” he said.
In particular, he said he wanted to make Coca-Cola products more visible to consumers in stores, supermarkets and other advertising media, especially since the bulk of Coke sales are made at the last minute.
“Seventy percent of purchases of our products are made on impulse,” he said, citing company studies.
To this end, he said that the company was investing more on its network of 800,000 clients and distributors by providing more refrigerators, signs and other marketing tools.
Kent also dismissed talk that Coke was losing out to alternative beverages like bottled iced tea, as consumers become more health conscious.
Instead, he said that the market was only demanding more choices—a phenomenon that the company is responding to by broadening its product offerings, either by acquiring other brands or developing new products like the recently launched Coke Zero.
“There is room for everybody,” he said, adding that there remains “plenty of growth left in sparkling beverages” in the local market.
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