My Journey

I have made all the calculations; fate will do the rest -(Napoleon)

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Cola controversy in India


The fight of cola majors in India is starting to generate lot of heat. This, as we all know, started when one laboratory (in India) claimed to find traces of pesticides, which was above the permissible limit, in the colas. This ultimately led to banning of cola ‘sale and production’ in few Indian states. Cola majors, namely Coca Cola and Pepsi (having 98% of the market share), have launched huge ‘PR’ excerise to counter this adverse publicity. The sales have reportedly been plummeting. One Indian newspaper has reports of US industry association warning of slack in US investments in India. This hasn’t been of much help to the case of the cola majors.

This is not a new or isolated case of adverse publicity in food and beverages industry. There have been several instances of this across world, and also in India. So much so that there are lots of templates case study to handle these situations. I am sure, Coke and PepsiCo have highly qualified brains to frame strategies, but if I think from the point of an Indian consumer, there are customizations required in that template.

In a rising nation, economically and otherwise, sensitivity has to be given special consideration. There has been a full page advertisement in Indian newspapers claiming cola to be safe for Indian consumers and within prescribed limits (I have no first hand information about this). There also have been claims that many other things like milk, water, etc has far higher content of restricted chemicals in them. So far so good, but what will irk an Indian consumer most is ‘double standards’. The report says that cola majors have different standard for India (for those harmful chemicals) and different for developed countries (Europe & USA). This may or may not be true, but media reports definitely suggest this. This straight away hurts the ego of any Indian consumer. Standards may be low for many other things in India, but one can’t say,”Hey this is safe enough for you all, so don’t complain”. They might not complain where they don’t have choice, for rest, they won’t buy your cola.

The more the cola companies attack the laboratory findings, the more it will hurt its case. They should rather come with facts proving that their standards in India are same as anywhere else in world. This is the difference while trying to counter adverse publicity of this form in India. Well, they might already be doing this as I am not aware. I am only saying from the view that if was to not drink cola then it would be only for this reason.

Anyhow all of us are sure that cola is going to be there in India.

17 Comments:

  • At 3:43 AM, Blogger educatedunemployed said…

    I find this constant appearance in the papers even for the wrong reasons a good marketting strategy.What with actors and actresses endorsing the product at every avaialable opportunity, I don't see colas out of India just yet.I wish I could send you links to all you "I don't know" statements, however I reckon you must be well informed already.
    I particularly agree with your statement They might not complain where they don’t have choice, for rest, they won’t buy your cola..I do find we make a big noise in areas where we allowed to, not where we really should be.

     
  • At 4:52 AM, Blogger janak chandarana said…

    satya wrote:
    Interesting things from you, giving timelines was innovative. 52, 68 and 110 are in sort of conflict with each other :)

    reply:
    well, 52, 68 and 110 has 3 different characters involved..
    I guess, now its more clearer and non-conflicting.

     
  • At 7:07 AM, Blogger charul said…

    Hey,
    "My Journey" has lot of interesting stuff ..
    keep it up !!

    n yeah thanx 4 going through my blog.

     
  • At 7:52 AM, Blogger XVSA013 said…

    its funny ... these companies considered indian stockholders too beneath their stature that they wont even list on BSE ...

    something else seems to be hitting them now ...

    its just a question of bribes and time ...

    yes, colas will stay in India ...

     
  • At 8:13 AM, Blogger Neihal said…

    Bang on Satya...I agree with you word by word...if they want to sell cola like in the rest of tghe world..the standards will have to match.

     
  • At 8:39 AM, Blogger greensatya said…

    EU - No, I have actually not seen the advertisements from the cola companies. I wish they first of all clarify that cola in India is following same standard as everywhere else. This will soothe the temper of people.

    And you are true with the fact that we don't raise our voice for several other pressing issues.

    Cola companies have deep pockets, it would be here.

    Janak - It was actually clear, I was just kidding. Good day !

    Charul - Thanks, I would drop by again.

    Mowgli - That's another question, why they won't list in India. It would be helping them as you pointed.

    Well, I was actually asking them to refine their strategy in India for handling this adverse publicity.

    Neihal - Yeah, that should be the first and foremost requirement. They simply can't have different standards for developed and third world countries.

     
  • At 4:49 PM, Blogger Raj said…

    Its very difficult for me to follow all the events happening in India these days. I wonder how you manage to do it so well. Do you just use online resources or something else too?

    I don't know about this new controversy in detail but I don't think people would stop drinking pepsi and coke anytime soon.

     
  • At 9:25 PM, Blogger Expression ! said…

    All these drinks are so addictive that no matter what ,people will never stop drinking them.So cola is safe.

     
  • At 10:47 PM, Blogger greensatya said…

    Raj - Cola controversy of India has become global news now. Well everyone seems to have fairly detailed information about things in India. I guess, either you are working too hard or partying too hard :)

    Sharda - That's for sure. Cola is going to be there forever.

     
  • At 1:57 AM, Blogger Unknown said…

    I had the same thought as Raj. I did hear and read in passing about the cola controversy, but I laud your efforts in keeping up so well.
    As for the topic itself. It's a shame, indeed.

     
  • At 8:57 AM, Blogger Y said…

    Unnecessary fuss, me says.

    Deep down, I think every one knows pesticide or no pesticide all these fizz drinks are unhealthy.

    And when I look that only a miniscule percentage of the population is exposed to clean drinking water, this issue is a non talker for me.

     
  • At 9:16 AM, Blogger greensatya said…

    Ipanema Girl - Thanks. I don't think those Cola majors are having double standards. It is just public perception and media propaganda.

    Sher - This is what I wanted to point out from post. It does not irk Indian consumers about pesticide or else, what irks is the media suggestion of double standards. So, I wish the strategy of the cola majors should be to counter this.

    Anyway, in India the cola consumption is far less. May be cause they are expensive in India than other countries, and Indians have healthy habit of drinking juice than soda.

     
  • At 4:23 PM, Blogger Sree said…

    Cool blog.. lots of interesting stuff..

     
  • At 2:20 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    It seams that the witch hunt by the CSE against the two international companies is over. The CSE is now proved to have had doubtful methods.

    As I don’t believe in the CSE’s conspiracy theories that everyone that proves them wrong is paid by their “enemies”, the truth seems to me a bit simpler:

    The CSE did a doubtful study in order to get results they wanted, in order to hurt two big companies, they already targeted years before. And finally rationality came back into the process in the form of the government’s evaluation of other and independent studies.

    Reuters: India says Cola pesticide charges not proven
    http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=scienceNews&storyID=2006-08-22T161828Z_01_L22193800_RTRUKOC_0_US-INDIA-COLAS.xml

    “ India's health minister said on Tuesday an environmental group that said soft drinks produced by Coca-Cola and PepsiCo contain high levels of pesticides had failed to prove its claims.
    But the group, the Center for Science and Environment (CSE) rejected Anbumani Ramadoss's statement and accused him of pandering to big multinationals at the expense of public health.
    (…)
    Both companies have defended the safety of their products.
    Ramadoss said his ministry was seeking more details from the CSE after hearing the view of experts appointed by the government.
    "The conclusion of the expert committee is that the report of the CSE does not provide conclusive evidence for presence of different pesticides in the concentration reported," Ramadoss told parliament in response to questions by lawmakers.
    He said the expert panel had found several inconsistencies in the chemical information presented by CSE.
    Ramadoss said the ministry had directed state-run labs across the country to conduct their own tests on samples of soft drinks and results received so far had either found no pesticide traces or their levels were below statutory limits.”

     
  • At 2:46 PM, Blogger greensatya said…

    Sushyam - Thanks :)

    Julius - Yeah the cola giants got a much welcome respite from the government's latest decision.

    Anyway the point is, there are many things in India, which we consume, more dangerous. The real issue is the media portrayal of double standards in parameters and cola giants should address this issue.

     
  • At 12:12 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    According to crisis expert Richard Levick their biggest error was in not confronting these reports more quickly and completely, while re-inforcing their concern for the public's health and the quality of their product.

    http://www.levick.com/resources/topics/articles/passage_india.php

     
  • At 1:30 PM, Blogger greensatya said…

    Charlotte - Thanks for the link. It gives great insight into the whole controversy.

     

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