Mango Juice Marketting

A PROJECT REPORT ON â€Å"MARKET STUDY OF MANGO JUICE† IN â€Å"HINDUSTHAN COCA COLA BEVERAGES PVT. LTD† PROJECT REPORT SUBMITTED TO THE OSMANIA UNIVERSITY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF â€Å"MASTERS OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION† D E C L A R A T I O N I XXX student of Master of Business Management, XXX College, here by that the project report entitled â€Å"MARKET STUDY OF MANGO JUICE† Has been carried out at â€Å"Hindusthan Coca Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd† submitted in partial fulfillment for the â€Å"Master’s Degree in Business Administration† in the result of my own work and is original.I have not submitted this project to any other university or college for the award of any other degree or Diploma. XXXX ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I express my sense of profound gratitude to the Management of â€Å"Hindustan Coca cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd†, Ameenpur. For giving me this opportunity to conduct a study on Training and De velopment in their esteemed organization. My sincere thanks to XXXX (Human resource Manager), Hindustan coca cola bevarege Pvt. Ltd, Ameenpur. For permitting me to pursue this project. I would like to express my gratitude to XXXX (Sales Manager), Hindustan Coca cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd, Ameenpur.For providing his valuable time, suggestions and support for completing my project work successfully. I am extremely grateful to XXXX, Hindustan Coca cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd, Ameenpur. For his support during the preparation of the project report. His patience and invaluable guidance have proved to be very precious without which project would not be completed. I am thankful to our Principal XXXX. and also convey my thanks to our faculty members for their support. Lastly, I am indebted to the friends and will-wishers who have extended their support to me during the project. XXXX INDEX PAGE NO: CHAPTER-1 ? INTRODUCTION6-7 INDUSTRY PROFILE IN INDIA9-10 CHAPTER-2 ? NEED FOR THE STUDY12-13 ? SCOPE FOR THE STUDY15-17 ? OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY19 ? RESEARCH METHODOLOGY21-24 ? LIMITATION OF THE STUDY26 CHAPTER-3 ? COMPANY PROFILE28-60 CHAPTER-4 ? DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION63-73 CHAPTER-5 ? SUGGESTION75 ? CONCLUSION77 ? FINDINGS79 ? QUESTIONNAIRE 81-83 ? BIBLOGRAPHY85 INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION Marketing in simple terms can be said to be â€Å"A human activity directed at satisfied needs and wants through an exchange process. † Marketing as a functional area of management is becoming extremely important as compared to other fields.All decisions in modern business organization revolve around information related with marketing decision making situations, which are characterized by Distribution Strategy, Channel members and Product decisions. The Product Decisions, customers assess a product’s value by looking at many factors including those that surround the product. In a constantly changing business and market scenario, maintaining the channel members becomes more challenging in such a situation only innovative technology, good product and committed people, accompany can take the lead over its competitors.Coca-cola ltd has differentiated itself from its competitors and providing the total â€Å"value for money† to its customers. Coca-cola ltd has integrated all the features to offer a value for its products. Value for the product and services refers to the quality of product and services offered to the customers. Several surrounding features can be directly influenced by channel members, such as customer service, delivery, and availability. Consequently, a channel partner involves a value analysis in the same way customers make purchase decisions.This area becomes the most important from the company as well as customer point of view. This helps the company to know better their customers and provide them with what they are expecting. Market: The set of all actual and potential buyers of a product or service. Marketing: A social and man agerial process whereby individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and value with others. Marketing Management: The art and science of choosing target markets and building profitable relationships with them. Customer Satisfaction:The extent to which a product’s performance matches a buyer’s expectations. Marketing Mix: The set of controllable tactical marketing tools – product, price, place, and promotion – that the firm blends to produce the response it wants in the target market. Developing the marketing Mix: Once the company have decided on its overall competitive marketing strategy, it is ready to begin planning the details of the marketing mix, one of the major concepts in modern marketing. The marketing mix is the set of controllable, tactical marketing tools that the firm blends to produce the response it wants in the target market.INDUSTRY PROFILE INDUSTRY PROFILE IN INDIA OUR COUNTRY WITH APOPUL ATION OF 100 crores as on 2001. Is potentially one of the largest consumer market in the world the soft drinks market is the one among the various markets in India . Soft drinks is product, which the consumer purchases to quench his thirst, the secondary factor such as taste, hygienic conditions of storage and social status influenced the consumers purchasing decision. Soft Drink scenario in India: The soft drinks market till early 1990`s was in hands of domestic players like Campa Thums up limca etc . ut with opening up of economy and the entry of MNC players Pepsi and coca -cola, the market as come totally under their control while world wide coca cola is the leader in carbonated drinks market, in India it is Pepsi which scored over coca cola . Coca cola, which had winded up its Indian operations during the introduction of FERA regime, reentered in India 16 years later in 1993. Coca cola acquired a major chunk of the soft drink market by buying out local brands Thumps Up. Limca an d Gold Spot from Parle Beverages. Pepsi, although started a couple of years efore Coca cola in 1991, has a lower market share today. It has bought over Mumbai based Dukes range of soft drinks brands . Pepsi has been targeting it’s products towards youth and it has stuck right chord with the sales have been doing well by sticking to the is youth brand wagon Soft drinks are available in glass bottles, aluminum cans and pet bottles for home consumption. Fountains also dispense them in disposable containers. While 80% of the consumption is impulse based outside home 20% comes from consumption at home. This trend is slowly changing with increase in occasion led sales.The market is slowly moving from Non-Alcoholic Carbonated drinks to fruit based drinks and also to plain bottles water due to lower cost and ready availability. Per Capital consumption in India is among lowest in the world at 7 bottles per annum compared to 15 bottles in Pakistan, 89 in china and 1500 bottles in USA. Market has highest per capita consumption in the country with 50 bottles per annum compared to 5 bottles for the country. While 75% of the PET bottle consumption is in urban areas and the 200 ml bottles sales are higher in rural areas.According to the NCAER survey, lower lower middle and upper middle class people do 90% of the total consumption of soft drinks in the country. Soft drinks market size of FY05 was around 320 million cases (7680million bottles). The market, which was witnessing 5% to 6% growth in the early 1990`s and even slower growth at around 2-3% in late80`s. presently the market growth rate is around 7-8% per annum. The market preference is highly regional based. While the cola drinks have main markets in metro cities and Northern states of UP, Punjab, Haryana, etc. orange flavored drinks are popular in southern states.Sodas are also sold largely in southern sates, besides sales through bars. Western markets have preference towards mango-flavored drinks; diet coca c ola constituted just 0. 7% of the total carbonated beverage market. Another particular feature of the market is that of positioning and targeting of various brands. While cola based brand of coca cola is targeted at teenagers and is positioned as refreshment for mind and body . its Thums Up brand is targeted at people in age group of 20-29yrars, positioned as thing for adventure-loving successful and macho person NEED FOR THE STUDY NEED FOR STUDYAs retailer, each of has a vast number of perceptions toward products, toward services, toward company or industry, etc. It is difficult to imagine in any research project that does not include the measurement of some aspects of retailer’s s perceptions. The size of the market is vast and constantly expanding, thus resulting in a vast number of competitors entering the market. Billions of dollars were being spent on goods and services by tens of millions of people. The growth of the retailer’s movements created urgent need to u nderstand how competitors form strategies and capture the market share and take strategic decisions.For example, in order to discover how retailers respond to the promotional offer, advertisement and distribution or service. (E. g. promotional appeals, package labels, warranties, discounts, etc. ). The study of retailer’s perception and market share would provide the company with necessary insights to develop the product, its pricing strategy, and to design persuasive promotional strategy, distribution system and develop defensive strategies and elimination strategies to remove the competitor’s product from the market or some promotional strategies to increase the market share of particular products and brands.It would also support the organization to analyze its drawbacks in its various strategies and to take corrective action to remain as market leaders. The study will also reveal the different aspects of retailer’s perception regarding price, quality, range, availability, and advertisements of the products. The need for the study is very essential as the competition in the soft drink and water segment is ever increasing. Competitors are mainly struggling to shutdown the market by capturing its market share. The competitors are coming up with sales promotion and incentives to compete with this Maaza.SCOPE FOR THE STUDY SCOPE FOR STUDY The scope of the study is limited. The study is a very minor contribution to the company as it is only restricted to the twin cities (Borabanda and Kodapur). The study would only be a drop in the ocean, Can help the distribution in this area. The study can be conducted on a national basic too with a large sample size and interviewing many numbers of respondents. OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS: Retailer: Retailer is a person or business who sells products to the public. Brand: Brand refers to the identification of the product given by the manufacturer. Brand Loyalty:Brand loyalty refers to the continuous and repeat ed purchase of a particular brand without any wavering purchase pattern. Respondent: Respondent is a person who is being interviewed for the purpose of conducting the study. Market share: The amount that a company sells of its products or services compared with other companies selling the same things Promotional Activities: Promotional activities include advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, and publicity, which have their own characteristics and cost but have common objectives of achieving high sales by creating awareness.Incentives: Offer of an article at frees of cost or less price of the market can be termed as incentives. Interviewee: A person who is answerable to the interviewer of the proposed questions. Interviewer: A person who carries on investigation for the purpose of achieving the objectives of the project. Sample: The selection of set of people from the total population for the purchase of carrying on the investigation. Survey: It refers to the questionnaire administered to the subject who is identified from the population with the help of probability or non-probability sampling.Questionnaire: It refers to the set of questions that are framed to be answered by the respondents for the purpose of achieving the research objectives. In questionnaires there are two types structured and unstructured. There are four types of questions in a questionnaire on open ended questions, closed ended questions, disguised and interrogative questions. Brand awareness: Knowing brand; knowing that particular brand exists and is important; being interested in particular brand: brand awareness refers to the consumer awareness of the particular brand. Brand Name:The name given to a product by the company that produces it. brand name is nothing but the name and value of the brand. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY ? To know the retailers perception on maaza tetra pack. ? To know the brand image among fruit drinks. ? To know the retailers satisfactio n levels towards maaza. ? To study the customer preferences and choice in various juice brands ? To identify the problems of distribution ? To analyze the sales of competitors products in various outlets ? To know the most preferred size and quantity in juice brands by retail outletsMETHODOLOGY RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Research Design: Once the problem is identified, the next step is the research design. Research design is the basic framework of rest of the study. A research design specifies the methods and procedures for conducting particular study. In this project we are following descriptive research design. Source of Data: There are two types of data: 1. Primary data 2. Secondary data Primary Data: The primary data is fresh information collected for a specified study. The primary data can be gathered by observational, experimentation and survey method.Here the entire scheme of plan starts with the definition of various terms used, units to be employed, type of enquiry to be conducte d, extent of accuracy aimed etc. , The methods commonly used for the collection of primary data are: 1. Direct personal investigation, where the data is collected by the investigator from the sources concerned. 2. Indirect oral interviews, where the interview is conducted directly or indirectly concerned with subject matter of the enquiry. 3. Information received through local agencies, which are appointed by the investigator. 4.Mailed questionnaire method, here the method consists in preparing a questionnaire (a list of questions relating to the field of enquiry and providing space for the answers to be filled by the respondents. ), which is mailed to the respondents with a request for quick response with in the specified time. In this project mailed questionnaire method is used to collect the primary data. Secondary Data: The secondary data refers to data, which already exists. The secondary data collect from internal records, business magazines, company websites and Newspapers. R esearch instruments:For the collection of primary data a structured questionnaire was prepared covering various aspects of the study. The questionnaire contains closed-ended and dichotomous questions. Sampling Procedure: It is a procedure required from defining a population to the actual selection of the sample. Introduction: The precision and accuracy of the survey results are affected by the manner in which the sample has been chosen. Sample: A part of a population, which is provided by some process on other, usually by deliberated selection with the object of investigating the properties of the parent population set.Non probability sampling method is in deterministic method where the sample size in numerous and can’t be determined. So for our convenience we take convenience-sampling method where all the population in sample is given equal opportunity. Sampling Method: – Convenience sampling method. Statistical Tools Used: Weighted Arithmetic Mean. Weighted Arithmeti c Mean is based on the assumption that all the items in the distribution are of equal importance. Here the weights are attached to each item being proportional to the importance of the item in the distribution.Let W1, W2, W3, Wn be the weights attached to variable values X1,X2,X3†¦, Xn respectively then weighted arithmetic means X is given by ? WX/? W where W1, W2†¦ Wn are the respective weights of X1, X2, Xn. 1. Population: Retailers in Borabanda and kondapur. 2. Source of data: The two important sources of data are the primary data and secondary data. The primary data is collected through survey method with the help of questionnaire and personal interview. The secondary data is been collected from consumer attitude books. 3. The information is collected through survey done in Borabanda and kondapur 4.Sample unit: The sample unit consists of retailers in Borabanda and kondapur 5. Sample size: The sample size is 120 respondents. 6. The sample taken for the study caters to upper class and middle class of the society. 7. Sample method: the sample method used is non-probability. In non-probability sampling the chance of any particulars unit in the population being selected unknown. a. Procedure: the procedure used for sampling is convenient sampling in this method the sample unit is chosen primarily on the basics of the convenience to the investigator. 8.The survey consists of structured questionnaire. 9. The questionnaire consists of both open and closed-ended questions LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY LIMITATIONS †¢ The study was confined to limited consumers only †¢ The duration of the study was restricted for 8 weeks only, which is not sufficient to study the entire consumers in the market. †¢ The analysis can not be straight away used in decision making, as simple is very small when compared to the total consumers in the market. †¢ The present study deals with coca-cola-brand. COMPANY PROFILE COCA-COLA PROFILEThe company actually produc es concentrate for Marco, which is then sold to various Coca-Cola bottlers throughout the world. The bottlers, who hold territorially-exclusive contracts with the company, produce finished product in cans and bottles from the concentrate in combination with filtered water and sweeteners. The bottlers then sell, distribute and merchandise Coca-Cola in cans and bottles to retail stores and vending machines. Such bottlers include Coca-Cola Enterprises, which is the single largest Coca-Cola bottler in North America and Europe.The Coca-Cola Company also sells concentrate for fountain sales to major restaurants and food service distributors. The Coca-Cola Company has, on occasion, introduced other cola drinks under the Coke brand name. The most famous of these is Diet Coke, which has become a major diet cola but others exist, including Caffeine free Coke, Cherry Coke, Coke Zero, Vanilla Coke and limited editions with lemon and with lime, and even with coffee. The Coca-Cola Company owns an d markets other soft drinks that do not carry the Coca-Cola branding, such as Sprite, Fanta, and others. The Las Vegas World of Coca-Cola museum in 2000The first recipe Coca-Cola was invented in Atlanta, Georgia, by John S. Pemberton, originally as a coca wine called Pemberton's French Wine Coca in 1885. [1][2] He may have been inspired by the formidable success of European Angelo Mariani's coca wine, Vin Mariani. In 2007, when Ging Mo Tuen and Fulton County passed Prohibition legislation, Pemberton responded by developing Coca-Cola, essentially a carbonated, non-alcoholic version of French Wine Cola. [3] The beverage was named Coca-Cola because, originally, the stimulant mixed in the beverage was coca leaves from South America.In addition, the drink was flavored using kola (Cola) nuts, the beverage's source of caffeine. [4] Pemberton called for five ounces of coca leaf per gallon of syrup, a significant dose, whereas, in 1891, Candler claimed his formula (altered extensively from P emberton's original) contained only a tenth of this amount. Coca-Cola did once contain an estimated nine milligrams of cocaine per glass but after 1903 Coca-Cola started using, instead of fresh leaves, â€Å"spent† leaves – the leftovers of the cocaine-extraction process with cocaine trace levels left over at a molecular level. 5][6] However, as cocaine is one of numerous alkaloids present in the coca leaf, it was nevertheless present in the drink. Today, the flavoring is still done with kola nuts and the â€Å"spent† coca leaf. In the United States, there is only one plant (in New Jersey) authorized by the Federal Government to grow the coca plant for Coca-Cola syrup manufacture. [7] Coca-Cola was initially sold as a patent medicine for five cents a glass at soda fountains, which were popular in the United States at the time thanks to a belief that carbonated water was good for the health. 8] Pemberton claimed Coca-Cola cured a myriad of diseases, including mor phine addiction, dyspepsia, neurasthenia, headache, and impotence. The first sales were made at Jacob's Pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 8, 1886, and for the first eight months only nine drinks were sold each day. Pemberton ran the first advertisement for the beverage on May 29 of the same year in the Atlanta Journal. By 1888, three versions of Coca-Cola — sold by three separate businesses — were on the market. Asa Griggs Candler acquired a stake in Pemberton's company in 1887 and incorporated it as the Coca Cola Company in 1888.The same year, while suffering from an ongoing addiction to morphine, Pemberton sold the rights a second time to four more businessmen: J. C. Mayfield, A. O. Murphy, C. O. Mullahy and E. H. Bloodworth. Meanwhile, Pemberton's alcoholic son Charley Pemberton began selling his own version of the product. In an attempt to clarify the situation, John Pemberton declared that the name Coca-Cola belonged to Charley, but the other two manufacturers could continue to use the formula. So, in the summer of 1888, Candler sold his beverage under the names Yum Yum and Koke.After both failed to catch on, Candler set out to establish a legal claim to Coca-Cola in late 1888, in order to force his two competitors out of the business. Candler purchased exclusive rights to the formula from John Pemberton, Margaret Dozier and Woolfolk Walker. However, in 1914, Dozier came forward to claim her signature on the bill of sale had been forged, and subsequent analysis has indicated John Pemberton's signature was most likely a forgery as well. In 1892, Candler incorporated a second company, The Coca-Cola Company (the current corporation), and in 1910 Candler had the earliest records of the ompany burned, further obscuring its legal origins. Regardless, Candler began marketing the product — the efficiency of this concerted advertising campaign would not be realized until much later. By the time of its 50th anniversary, the drink had reached the status of a national icon for the USA. In 1935 it was certified kosher by Rabbi Tobias Geffen, after the company made minor changes in the sourcing of some ingredients. Coca-Cola was sold in bottles for the first time on March 12, 1894, and cans of Coke first appeared in 1955. 14] The first bottling of Coca-Cola occurred in Vicksburg, Mississippi, at the Biedenharn Candy Company in 1891. Its proprietor was Joseph A. Biedenharn. The original bottles were Biedenharn bottles, very different from the much later hobble-skirt design that is now so familiar. Asa Candler was tentative about bottling the drink, but the two entrepreneurs who proposed the idea were so persuasive that Candler signed a contract giving them control of the procedure. However, the loosely termed contract proved to be problematic for the company for decades to come.Legal matters were not helped by the decision of the bottlers to subcontract to other companies — in effect, becoming parent bottlers. [pic] New Coke stirred up a controversy when it replaced the original Coca-Cola in 1985. Coca-Cola Classic was reinstated within a few months of New Coke's introduction into the market. In 1985, Coca-Cola, amid much publicity, attempted to change the formula of the drink. Some authorities believe that New Coke, as the reformulated drink was called, was invented specifically to respond to its commercial competitor, Pepsi.Double-blind taste tests indicated that most consumers preferred the taste of Pepsi (which had more lemon oil, less orange oil, and used vanillin rather than vanilla) to Coke. In taste tests, drinkers were more likely to respond positively to sweeter drinks, and Pepsi had the advantage over Coke because it was much sweeter. Coca-Cola tinkered with the formula and created â€Å"New Coke†. Follow-up taste tests revealed that most consumers preferred the taste of New Coke to both Coke and Pepsi. The reformulation was led by the then-CEO of the company, Roberto Goizueta , and the president Don Keough.It is unclear what part long-time company president Robert W. Woodruff played in the reformulation. Goizueta claimed that Woodruff endorsed it a few months before his death in 1985; others have pointed out that, as the two men were alone when the matter was discussed, Goizueta might have misinterpreted the wishes of the dying Woodruff, who could speak only in monosyllables. It has also been alleged that Woodruff might not have been able to understand what Goizueta was telling him. [Citation needed] The commercial failure of New Coke therefore came as a grievous blow to the management of the Coca-Cola Company.It is possible that customers would not have noticed the change if it had been made secretly or gradually and thus brand loyalty could have been maintained. Coca-Cola management was unprepared, however, for the nostalgic sentiments the drink aroused in the American public; some compared changing the Coke formula to rewriting the American Constituti on. The Coca-Cola Company is the world's largest consumer of natural vanilla extract. When New Coke was introduced in 1985, this had a severe impact on the economy of Madagascar, a prime vanilla exporter, since New Coke used vanillin, a less-expensive synthetic substitute.Purchases of vanilla more than halved during this period. But the flop of New Coke brought a recovery. Meanwhile, the market share for New Coke had dwindled to only 3% by 1986. The company renamed the product â€Å"Coke II† in 1992 (not to be confused with â€Å"Coke C2†, a reduced-sugar cola launched by Coca-Cola in 2004). However, sales falloff caused a severe cutback in distribution. By 1998, it was sold in only a few places in the Midwestern U. S. Main article: Coca-Cola formula: The exact formula of Coca-Cola is a famous trade secret.The original copy of the formula is held in SunTrust Bank's main vault in Atlanta. Its predecessor, the Trust Company, was the underwriter for the Coca-Cola Company' s initial public offering in 1919. A popular myth states that only two executives have access to the formula, with each executive having only half the formula. The truth is that while Coca-Cola does have a rule restricting access to only two executives, each knows the entire formula and others, in addition to the prescribed duo, have known the formulation process. Franchised Production Model:The actual production and distribution of Coca-Cola follows a franchising model. The Coca-Cola Company only produces a syrup concentrate, which it sells to various bottlers throughout the world who hold Coca-Cola franchises for one or more geographical areas. The bottlers produce the final drink by mixing the syrup with filtered water and sugar (or artificial sweeteners) and fill it into cans and bottles, which the bottlers then sell and distribute to retail stores, vending machines, restaurants and food service distributors. [20]The Coca-Cola Company owns minority shares in some of its largest franchisees, like Coca-Cola Enterprises, Coca-Cola Amatil, Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company (CCHBC) and Coca-Cola FEMSA, but fully independent bottlers produce almost half of the volume sold in the world. Since independent bottlers add sugar and sweeteners, the sweetness of the drink differs in various parts of the world, to cater for local tastes. Bottle and logo design [pic][pic] The first version of the famous bottle went into production in 1916. The famous Coca-Cola logotype was created by John Pemberton's bookkeeper, Frank Mason Robinson, in 1885.It was Robinson who came up with the name, and he also chose the logo’s distinctive cursive script. The typeface used, known as Spencerian script, was developed in the mid 19th century and was the dominant form of formal handwriting in the United States during that period. The equally famous Coca-Cola bottle, called the â€Å"contour bottle† within the company, but known to some as the â€Å"hobble skirt† bottle , was created in 1915 by a Swedish former glassblower, Alexander Samuelson, who had emigrated to the U. S. in the 1880s and was employed as a anager at The Root Glass Company in Terre Haute, Indiana, one of Coca-Cola's bottle suppliers. According to the Coca-Cola Company, Samuelson took time to ponder a possible new design for the bottle after production at his plant was shut down due to a heat wave. Inspired, he considered the possibility of basing a new design on the kola nut or coca leaf, two of the drink's flagship ingredients. He sent an employee to research the shape of the two objects in question, but a misunderstanding led to the man returning with sketches of the cacao pod—a crucial ingredient in chocolate, but not Coca-Cola.According to the company, it was this mistaken design that was accepted and put into production. Although endorsed by the company, this version of events is not considered authoritative by many who cite its implausibility as difficult to believe. One alternative depiction has Raymond Loewy as the inventor of the unique design, but although Loewy did serve as a designer of Coke cans and bottles in later years, he was in the French Army in the year the bottle was invented and did not migrate Local Competitors:Pepsi is often second to Coke in terms of sales, but outsells Coca-Cola in some localities. Around the world, some local brands do compete with Coke. In South and Central America, Kola Real, known as Big Cola in Mexico, is a fast growing competitor to Coca-Cola. On the French island of Corsica, Corsica Cola, made by brewers of the local Pietra beer, is a growing competitor to Coca-Cola. In the French region of Bretagne, Breizh Cola is available. In Peru, Inca Kola outsells Coca-Cola. However, The Coca-Cola Company purchased the brand in 1999.In Sweden, Julmust outsells Coca-Cola during the Christmas season. In Scotland, the locally-produced Irn-Bru was more popular than Coca-Cola until 2005, when Coca-Cola and Diet Coke began to outpace its sales. In India, Coca-Cola ranks third behind the leader, Pepsi-Cola, and local drink Thumps Up. However, The Coca-Cola Company purchased Thumps Up in 1993. Tropical, a domestic drink is served in Cuba instead of Coca-Cola, in which there exists a United States embargo. Mecca Cola, in the Middle East, is a competitor to Coca-Cola.In Turkey, Cola Turka is a major competitor to Coca-Cola. In Iran and also many countries of Middle East, Zam Zam Cola and Parsi Cola are major competitors to Coca-Cola. In some parts of China, Future cola or can be bought. In Slovenia, the locally-produced Cocktail is a major competitor to Coca-Cola, as is the inexpensive Mercator Cola, which is sold only in the country's biggest supermarket chain, Mercator. Finally, in Madagascar, Classiko Cola made by Tiko Group the largest manufactured company in the country is a serious competitor to Coca-Cola in many regions. Advertising:Coca-Cola's advertising has had a significant impact on Amer ican culture, and is frequently credited with the â€Å"invention† of the modern image of Santa Claus as an old man in red-and-white garments; however, while the company did in fact start promoting this image in the 1930s in its winter advertising campaigns, it was already common before that. In fact, Coca-Cola was not even the first soft drink company to utilize the modern image Santa Claus in its advertising – White Rock Beverages used Santa in advertisements for its ginger ale in 1923 after first using him to sell mineral water in 1915.In the 1970s, a song from a Coca-Cola commercial called â€Å"I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing†, produced by Billy Davis, became a popular hit single. Coca-Cola has a policy of avoiding using children younger than the age of 12 in any of its advertising. This decision was made as a result of a lawsuit from the beginning of the 20th century that alleged that Coke's caffeine content was dangerous to children. However, in recen t times, this has not stopped the company from targeting young consumers. In addition, it has not been disclosed in exact terms how safe Coke is for consumption by young children (or pregnant mothers).Coke's advertising has been rather pervasive, as one of Woodruff's stated goals was to ensure that everyone on Earth drank Coca-Cola as their preferred beverage. Advertising for Coke is now almost ubiquitous, especially in southern areas of North America, such as Atlanta, where Coke was born. Some of the memorable Coca-Cola television commercials between 1960 through 1986 were written and produced by former Atlanta radio veteran Don Naylor (WGST 1936-1950, WAGA 1951-1959) during his career as a producer for the McCann Erickson advertising agency.Many of these early television commercials for Coca-Cola featured movie stars, sports heroes, and popular singers of the day. During the 1980s, Pepsi-Cola ran a series of television advertisements showing people participating in taste tests ess entially demonstrating that: â€Å"Fifty percent of the participants who said they preferred Coke actually chose the Pepsi†. Statisticians were quick to point out the problematic nature of a 50/50 result; that most likely all this really showed was that in blind tests, most people simply cannot tell the difference between Pepsi and Coke.Coca-Cola ran ads to combat Pepsi's ads in an incident sometimes referred to as the cola wars; one of Coke's ads compared the so-called Pepsi challenge to two chimpanzees deciding which tennis ball was furrier. Thereafter, Coca-Cola regained its leadership in the market. Selena was a spokesperson for Coca-Cola from 1989 till the time of her death. She filmed three commercials for the company. In 1994 to commemorate her 5 years with the company, Coca-Cola issued special Selena coke bottles. In an attempt to broaden its portfolio, Coca-Cola purchased Columbia Pictures in 1982.Columbia provided subtle publicity through Coke product placements in many of its films while under Coke's ownership. However, after a few early successes, Columbia began to under-perform, and was dropped by the company in 1989. Coca-Cola has gone through a number of different advertising slogans in its long history, including â€Å"The pause that refreshes†, â€Å"I'd like to buy the world a Coke†, and â€Å"Coke is it† (see Coca-Cola slogans). Sponsorship of Sporting Events: Coca-Cola was the first-ever sponsor of the Olympic games, at the 1928 games in Amsterdam and has been an Olympics sponsor ever since.This corporate sponsorship included the 1996 Summer Olympics hosted in Atlanta, which allowed Coca-Cola to spotlight its hometown. Since 1978 Coca-Cola has sponsored each FIFA World Cup and other competitions organized by FIFA. In fact, one of the FIFA tournament trophy: FIFA World Youth Championship from Tunisia in 1977 to Malaysia in 1997 was called â€Å"FIFA – Coca Cola Cup†. In addition, Coca-Cola sponsors t he annual Coca-Cola 600 for the NASCAR Nextel Cup auto racing series at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina.Coca-Cola has a long history of sports marketing relationships, which over the years have included Major League Baseball, the National Football League, Criticisms Main article: Criticism of Coca-Cola: The Coca-Cola Company has been criticized for the alleged adverse health effects of its flagship product. However, a common criticism of Coke based on its allegedly toxic acidity levels has been found to be baseless by most researchers; lawsuits based on these criticisms have been dismissed by several American courts for this reason.Most nutritionists advise that Coca-Cola and other soft drinks can be harmful if consumed excessively, particularly to young children whose soft drink consumption competes with, rather than complements, a balanced diet. Studies have shown that regular soft drink users have a lower intake of calcium (which can contribute to osteoporosis) , magnesium, ascorbic acid, riboflavin, and vitamin A. The drink has also aroused criticism for its use of caffeine, an addictive substance which does not affect the products' taste.Although numerous court cases have been filed against The Coca-Cola Company since the 1920s, alleging that the acidity of the drink is dangerous, no evidence corroborating this claim has been found. Under normal conditions, scientific evidence indicates Coca-Cola's acidity causes no immediate harm. Like most other colas, Coca-Cola contains phosphoric acid. One study has shown that this hastens bone loss, contributing to illnesses such as osteoporosis. There is also some concern regarding the usage of high fructose corn syrup in the production of Coca-Cola.Since 1985 in the U. S. , Coke has been made with high fructose corn syrup, instead of sugar glucose or fructose, to reduce costs. This has come under criticism because of concerns that the corn used to produce corn syrup may come from genetically alter ed plants. Some nutritionists also caution against consumption of high fructose corn syrup because of possible links to obesity and diabetes. In India, there exists a major controversy concerning pesticides and other harmful chemicals in bottled products including Coca-Cola.In 2003, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a non-governmental organization in New Delhi, said aerated waters produced by soft drinks manufacturers in India, including multinational giants PepsiCo and Coca-Cola, contained toxins including lindane, DDT, malathion and chlorpyrifos — pesticides that can contribute to cancer and a breakdown of the immune system. Tested products included Coke, Pepsi, and several other soft drinks, many produced by The Coca-Cola Company.CSE found that the Indian produced Pepsi's soft drink products had 36 times the level of pesticide residues permitted under European Union regulations; Coca-Cola's soft drink was found to have 30 times the permitted amount. CSE said it had tested the same products sold in the US and found no such residues. After the pesticide allegations were made in 2003, Coca-Cola sales declined by 15%. In 2004, an Indian parliamentary committee backed up CSE's findings, and a government-appointed committee was tasked with developing the world's first pesticide standards for soft drinks.The Coca-Cola Company has responded that its plants filter water to remove potential contaminants and that its products are tested for pesticides and must meet minimum health standards before they are distributed. In the Indian state of Kerala, sale and production of Coca-Cola, along with other soft drinks, was initially banned, before the High Court in Kerala overturned the ban ruling that only the federal government can ban food products.In 2006, the United States Food and Drug Administration responded to reports that the carcinogen benzene was present in unhealthy levels in certain soft drinks by conducting a survey of more than 100 soft drin ks and other beverages. Based on this limited survey, the FDA stated that it â€Å"believes that the results indicate that benzene levels are not a safety concern for consumers. † [pic]History [pic] One of the Coca-Cola Company's headquarters buildings in Atlanta, GA. Pharmacist John Stith Pemberton invented a coca wine called Pemberton's French Wine Coca in 1884.He was inspired by the formidable success of French Angelo Mariani's coca wine, Vin Mariani. The following year, when Atlanta and Fulton County passed Prohibition legislation, Pemberton began to develop a non-alcoholic version of the French Wine Coca. He named it Coca-Cola, because it included the stimulant coca leaves from South America and was flavored using kola nuts, a source of caffeine. Pemberton ran the first advertisement for the beverage on May 29 that year in the Atlanta Journal.In 1887, while suffering from an ongoing addiction to morphine, Pemberton sold a stake in his company to Asa Griggs Candler, who i ncorporated it as the Coca Cola Corporation in 1888. In the same year, Pemberton sold the rights a second time to three more businessmen: J. C. Mayfield, A. O. Murphy, and E. H. Blood worth. Meanwhile, Pemberton's alcoholic son Charley Pemberton began selling his own version of the product. Three versions of Coca-Cola — sold by three separate businesses — were on the market.In 1899 Candler sold the exclusive rights, for $1 (USD) to bottle Coca-Cola in most of the United States to two entrepreneurs from Chattarnooga, TN, Benjamin Thomas and Joseph B. Whitehead who subsequently founded the Coca-Cola Bottling Company In 1919 Candler sold his company to Atlanta banker Ernest Woodruff. According to the 2005 Annual Report, the company sells beverage products in more than 200 countries. The report further states that of the more than 50 billion beverage servings of all types consumed worldwide every day, beverages bearing the trademarks owned by or licensed to Coca-Cola accou nt for approximately 1. billion. Of these, beverages bearing the trademark â€Å"Coca-Cola† or â€Å"Coke† accounted for approximately 55% of the Company's total gallon sales. Also according to the 2005 Annual Report, Coca-Cola had gallon sales distributed as follows: 27% in the United States 27% in Mexico, Brazil, Japan and China 46% in spread throughout the world Bottlers In general, The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC) and/or subsidiaries only produces (or produce) syrup concentrate which is then sold to various bottlers throughout the world who hold a Coca-Cola franchise.Coca-Cola bottlers, who hold territorially exclusive contracts with the company, produce finished product in cans and bottles from the concentrate in combination with filtered water and sweeteners. The bottlers then sell, distribute and merchandise the resulting Coca-Cola product to retail stores, vending machines, restaurants and food service distributors. One notable exception to this general relationshi p between TCCC and bottlers is fountain syrups in the United States, where TCCC bypasses bottlers and is responsible for the manufacture and sale of fountain syrups directly to authorized fountain wholesalers and some fountain retailers.In 2005, Coca-Cola had equity positions in 51 unconsolidated bottling, canning and distribution operations which produced approximately 58% of volume. Significant investees include: 36% of Coca-Cola Enterprises which produces (by population) for 78% of USA, 98% of Canada and 100% of Great Britain (but not Northern Ireland), continental France and the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium and Monaco. 40% of Coca-Cola FEMSA, S. A. de C. V. which produces (by population) for 48% of Mexico, 16% of Brazil, 98% of Colombia, 47% of Guatemala, 100% of Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama and Venezuela, and 30% of Argentina. 4% of Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company S. A. which produces (by population) for 67% of Italy and 100% of Armenia, Austria, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzeg ovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Nigeria, Northern Ireland, Poland, Rep. of Ireland, Romania, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland and Ukraine. 34% of Coca-Cola Amatil which produces (by population) for 98% of Indonesia and 100% of Australia, Indonesia, New Zealand, South Korea, Fiji and Papua New Guinea. 7% of Coca-Cola Bottling Co. which is the second largest Coca-Cola bottler in the United States. The company was incorporated in 1980, and â€Å"its predecessors have been in the soft drink manufacturing and distribution business since 1902. Products and brands [pic] [pic] Diet Coke was introduced in 1982 to offer an alternative to dieters worried about the high number of calories present in Classic Coke. Main article: Coca-Cola brands The Coca-Cola Company offers nearly 400 brands in over 200 countries, besides its namesake Coca-Cola beverage.This includes other varieties of Co ca-Cola such as Diet Coke (introduced in 1982), which uses aspartame, a synthetic phenylalanine-based sweetener, to eliminate the sugar content of the drink; Caffeine-free Coke; Cherry Coke (1985); Diet Cherry Coke (1986); Coke with Lemon (2001); Diet Coke with Lemon (2001); Vanilla Coke (2002); Diet Vanilla Coke (2002); Coca-Cola C2 (2004); Coke with Lime (2004); Diet Coke with Lime (2004); Diet Coke with Splenda (2005), Coca-Cola Zero (2005), Coca-Cola Black Cherry Vanilla (2006), Diet Coca-Cola Black Cherry Vanilla (2006), and Coca-Cola BlaK. Information on brands of coca-cola: [pic]Coca-colaThe world's favorite drink. The world's most valuable brand. The most recognizable word across the world after OK. Coca-Cola has a truly remarkable heritage. From a humble beginning in 1886, it is now the flagship brand of the largest manufacturer, marketer and distributor of non-alcoholic beverages in the world In India, Coca-Cola was the leading soft-drink till 1977 when govt. policies nece ssitated its departure. Coca-Cola made its return to the country in 1993 and made significant investments to ensure that the beverage is available to more and more people, even in the remote and inaccessible parts of the nation.Coca-Cola returned to India in 1993 and over the past ten years has captured the imagination of the nation, building strong associations with cricket, the thriving cinema industry, music etc. Coca-Cola has been very strongly associated with cricket, sponsoring the World Cup in 1996 and various other tournaments, including the Coca-Cola Cup in Sharjah in the late nineties. Coca-Cola's advertising campaigns Jo Chaho Ho Jaye and Life ho to Aisi were very popular and had entered the youth's vocabulary. In 2002, Coca-Cola launched the campaign â€Å"Thanda Matlab Coca-Cola† which sky-rocketed the brand to make it India's favorite soft-drink brand.In 2003, Coke was available for just Rs. 5 across the country and this pricing initiative together with improved distribution ensured that all brands in the portfolio grew leaps and bounds. Coca-Cola had signed on various celebrities including movie stars such as Karishma Kapoor, cricketers such as Srinath, Sourav Ganguly, southern celebrities like Vijay in the past and today, its brand ambassadors are Aamir Khan, Aishwarya Rai, Vivek Oberoi and cricketer Virendra Sehwag. [pic]Fanta Internationally, Fanta – The ‘orange' drink of The Coca-Cola Company, is seen as one of the favorite drinks since 1940's.Fanta entered the Indian market in the year 1993. Over the years Fanta has occupied a strong market place and is identified as â€Å"The Fun Catalyst†. Perceived as a fun youth brand, Fanta stands for its vibrant color, tempting taste and tingling bubbles that not just uplifts feelings but also helps free spirit thus encouraging one to indulge in the moment. This positive imagery is associated with happy, cheerful and special times with friends. [pic]Georgia In the company's journey towards the vision ‘leading the beverage revolution in India', now even Garam matlab Coca-Cola†¦.A hot new launch from Coca-Cola India. Georgia, quality tea and coffee served from state of the art vending machines is positioned to tap into the nation’s biggest beverage category. Georgia, which promises a great tasting, consistent, hygienic and affordable cuppa is available in a range of [pic]sizzling flavours, adrak, elaichi, masala and plain tea cappuccino, mochaccino and regular coffee. Georgia aims to become the consumers preferred choice of hot beverage when he is on the go; the brand is well on course to achieving its visionWhile Georgia is a mass market offering, Georgia Gold is the premium brand which caters to the connoisseur. Made from freshly roasted and ground coffee beans, Georgia Gold is delicious tasting aroma with the tantalizing aroma of fresh coffee. Currently available exclusively at McDonald’s outlets across the country Georgia Gol d has driven coffee sales through the roof. The success of hot beverages from Georgia Gold has resulted in extension into the cold category, with the introduction of Ice Tea and Cold Coffee [pic] Kinley Water, a thirst quencher that refreshes, a life giving force that washes all the toxins away.A ritual purifier that cleanses, purifies, transforms. Water, the most basic need of life, the very sustenance of Life, a celebration of life itself. The importance of water can never be understated. Particularly in a nation such as India where water governs the lives of the millions, be it as part of everyday rituals or as the monsoon which gives life to the sub-continent. Kinley water understands the importance and value of this life giving force. Kinley water thus promises water that is as pure as it is meant to be. Water you can trust to be truly safe and pure.Kinley water comes with the assurance of safety from the Coca-Cola Company. That is why we introduced Kinley with reverse-osmosis along with the latest technology to ensure the purity of our product. That's why we go through rigorous testing procedures at each and every location where Kinley is produced. Because we believe that right to pure, safe drinking water is fundamental. A universal need that cannot be left to chance [pic]Sprite Worldwide Sprite is ranked as the No. 4 soft drink. It is sold in more than 190 countries Worldwide Sprite is ranked as the No. soft drink & is sold in more than 190 countries. In India, Sprite was launched in year 1999 & todayit has grown to be one of the fastest growing soft drinks, leading the Clear lime category. Today Sprite is perceived as a youth icon. Why? With a strong appeal to the youth, Sprite has stood for a straight forward and honest attitude. Its clear crisp refreshing taste encourages the today's youth to trust their instincts, influence them to be true to who they are and to obey their thirst. [pic]Limca Lime n' lemony Limca, the drink that can cast a tangy ref reshing spell on anyone, anywhere.Born in 1971, Limca has been the original thirst choice, of millions of consumers for over 3 decades The brand has been displaying healthy volume growths year on year and Limca continues to be the leading flavor soft drink in the country. The success formula? The sharp fizz and lemony bite combined with the single minded positioning of the brand as the ultimate refresher has continuously strengthened the brand franchise. Limca energizes refreshes and transforms. Dive into the zingy refreshment of Limca and walk away a new person†¦ [pic]Maaza Maaza was launched in 1976.Here was a drink that offered the same real taste of fruit juices and was available throughout the year. In 1993, Maaza was acquired by Coca-Cola India. Maaza currently dominates the fruit drink category. Over the years, brand Maaza has become synonymous with Mango. This has been the result of such successful campaigns like â€Å"Taaza Mango, Maaza Mango† and â€Å"Botal m ein Aam, Maaza hain Naam†. Consumers regard Maaza as wholesome, the current advertising of Maaza positions it as an enabler of fun friendship moments between moms and kids as moms trust the brand and the kids love its taste.The campaign builds on the existing equity of the brand and delivers a relevant emotional benefit to the moms rightly captured in the tagline â€Å"Yaari Dosti Taaza Maaza† [pic]Thums up Strong Cola Taste, Exciting Personality Thums Up is a leading carbonated soft drink and most trusted brand in India. Originally introduced in 1977, Thums Up was acquired by The   Coca-Cola Company in 1993 Thums Up is known for its strong, fizzy taste and its confident, mature   and uniquely masculine attitude. This brand clearly seeks to separate the men from the boys Career at Coca-Cola:Every person who drinks a Coca-Cola enjoys a moment of refreshment – and shares in an experience that millions of others have savored. And all of those individual experien ces combined have created worldwide phenomenon. The Secret of Formula: Commitment, tempered by Passion and seasoned with a great deal of Fun is the Coke way of life. Drawing upon our collective energies, this Secret Formula drives us to achieve greater results collaboratively and thoroughly enjoy ourselves while doing it! The pace, energy and passion of our people constitute the invisible glue that make us one of the most sought after workplaces. Participative Leadership:Right from our interactions in the market, our Business Planning and our Brand launches, to our Employee Engagement Programs, our Values Agenda, and employee processes, every system is available for continuous improvement. A learning atmosphere, enabled by our Manifesto for Growth, helps us seek and replicate the learning’s from within and outside our organization. Our Engagement programs enable us to examine, validate and improve ourselves, constantly. Our colleagues involve themselves in our opportunities f or participative leadership volunteering for work groups that assist decision-making in critical processes.CAMPUS RECRUITMENTS: A taste of summer the Coca-Cola Summer Trainee Program is designed to facilitate the professional development of young talent and identify talented culture-fit employees for the company's Management Trainee program. The Summer Trainee program provides a learning of the vagaries and complexities of our business ‘from the ground up'. With value-creating live projects, the intern begins appreciating the intricacies of his or her function and the impact that it has on business. The quality and content of projects provides an opportunity to complement your classroom learning with hands-on experience.The Coca-Cola Management Trainee Program is the first step towards developing business general managers. A structured assessment process at some of the country's premier business schools ensures that we hire the right talent to groom them into senior management positions. A cross-functional training program spread over six months across the country builds an appreciation of the complexity of the business as well as help you understand the its interlink ages. The learning experience is also spiced up with value-creating projects in the functional stints. Ground learning’s are further consolidated with tructured classroom sessions from the field managers themselves and a Community Development stint helps the leaders of tomorrow to relate to their environment and reaffirms our commitment to the communities that we work in. Women Operations Trainees Program: The WOTES program is based on the Company philosophy that reemphasizes Equal Opportunity and Meritocracy as a core value of the Company’s operations. The program not only aims to grow the business in sync with the Company’s diverse community and consumer base but also intends to engage confident educated Indian women to be an integral part of our organization.The WOTE S or Women Operations Trainees Program is a focused Sales Training program for Women executives who will supplement the sales force in Frontline Sales. Spanning six-months the program consists of a three-month introduction to Sales the Coke way, followed by three months of on-the-job training at their prospective locations. The program imparts invaluable learning and an exposure to on-ground market conditions. At the end of the training, the WOTES will join the field force managing the sales operations across the country.We are guided by the shared values that guide us a Company and as individuals: [pic]Leadership ‘The courage to shape a better future’ [pic]Passion ‘Committed in heart and mind’ [pic]Integrity ‘Be real’ [pic]Accountability ‘If it is to be, it’s up to me [pic]Collaboration ‘Leverage collective genius’ [pic]Innovation ‘Seek, imagine, create, delight’ [pic]Quality ‘What we do, we do well ’ Respecting Ideals We Have Grown With Coca-Cola treasures its people as the most valuable asset, and assert with pride the role its human resources have played in establishing a consistent set of ideals.The Company attributes its unabated growth momentum worldwide to the disciplined approach of its manpower, and promises to reward its employees by respecting these ideals to sustain its long-term growth plans, no matter how much the world and business structures undergo changes. Integrity Is Our Key Ingredient Of Success we believe our success primarily hinges on integrity, and hence, our absolute thrust is on ensuring quality control for each and every of our products, acting with a strong sense of accountability in everything we do.Integrating Our Global Brand With Local Perspectives: Our people have always acknowledged that building and nurturing relationships with people and the world around us is an essential part of our work. No matter how big or complex our business be comes, we recognize the need to demonstrate complete respect for each other. As the world becomes more and more interconnected, yet more firmly rooted in local pride, identification of our interdependence with our stakeholders becomes even more essential.As we have expanded over the decades, our company has benefited from the various cultural insights and perspectives of the societies in which we do business. A large part of our relationship with the world around us is our relationship with the physical world. While we have always sought to be sensitive to the environment, we must use our significant resources and capabilities to provide active leadership on environmental issues, particularly those relevant to our businesses.Much of our future success will depend on our ability to develop a worldwide team that is rich in its diversity of thinking, perspectives, backgrounds and culture. Coca-Cola is the world's most inclusive brand, and Coca-Cola must also be the world's most inclusi ve company Corporate response: The Coca-Cola Company believes our business has always been based on the trust consumers everywhere place in us—trust that is earned by what we do as a corporate citizen and by our ability to live our values as a commercial enterprise.There is much in our world to celebrate, refresh, strengthen and protect. Through our actions as local citizens, we strive every day to refresh the marketplace, enrich the workplace, preserve the environment and strengthen our communities. At the heart of our business is the trust consumers place in us. They rightly expect that we are managing our business according to sound ethical principles, that we are enhancing the health of our communities, and that we are using natural resources responsibly. Media:Touching lives of a few more Fisherman- closer to 2nd anniversary of Tsunami Coca-Cola India Dedicates New Dockyard and Marketing Centre to Cuddlier Fishing Community Continuing its long-standing and ongoing suppor t to communities affected by Tsunami in Tamil Nadu, Coca-Cola India and Hindustan Coca Cola Beverage Pvt. Ltd and to realize their common vision to strengthen the communities, dedicated a boat dockyard and a large Marketing Centre to the fishing community in Pudhukuppam, situated 25 kms from Cuddalore in Tamilnadu.This was done by organizing a large community mobilization camp on November 26, 2006 in presence of hundreds of members of community, District Collector, representatives of our partner NGO- AFPRO and other dignitaries. The Dockyard facility aims to create new economic opportunities for the fishing families in Pudhukuppam. While the dockyard will ensure that the boats will not get impacted during disasters and the marketing centre ensures that the fishermen get good price right at their doorstep. Earlier, Coca-Cola had provided fiber motorized boats and fishing nets to a group of 80 fishermen in adjoining village in the same area.The district collector Sh. Gagandeep Singh B edi, present at the occasion, commended Coca-Cola’s effort for such a unique project post Tsunami, which will touch the lives of the poorest of the fisherman. Sh Bedi highlighted that the project is unique as not only it is first Dock Yard coming up post Tsunami but that the marketing centre will help touch lives of even the smallest of the fisherman. The boat dockyard and marketing center together are expected to considerably ease the burden of storage, transportation and sale of the catch for approximately 3000 fishing families that live in the surrounding area.Speaking on the occasion the Panchayat President said that, â€Å"This initiative by Coca-Cola India and Action for Food Production (AFPRO) to bring about a renewed economic change is heartily welcome. The new boat dockyard would enable the fishermen to dock their boats safely and the proximity of the dockyard to the main market and the road will ease the burden of transportation, preservation and disposal of the ca tch†. He added that such corporate contributions are the only way the region’s fishing community – recently affected by the disastrous tsunami – will regain economic stability.With the financial investment from Coca-Cola India, the dockyard is built with technical support from Action for Food Production (AFPRO), a socio-technical non-governmental organization working for the development of the rural poor through effective natural resource management solutions. The new dockyard has been constructed at a convenient location further inland on the backwaters and away from the coast so that boats can be safely anchored and can be protected from any natural calamity like tsunami