Coke announced the launch of its flavoured milk

India: Coke might be facing tough competition from brands such as Dabur, Amul and Paper Boat after the launch of their new product categories in India. This was done to show the importance of India, which was ranked 19 in 2006 on coke’s list of markets by size, now it has to move to 6 position. The Cold beverages market in India was valued at somewhere between Rs 50,000 – 60,000 crore in 2015, while the fruit juice market was valued at Rs 8,000 crore, Milk beverages on the other hand was estimated somewhere around 1500 crore.

The new product line category will be sold first through 500 Reliance Retail outlets across the country. Moreover, Reliance retail also set up special ‘VIO’ Dairy Zones’ across 9 stores which is available in almost all major retail outlets, and coke has basically come out with Indian flavours such as Saffron, Pistachio and Almond.    

According to Techsci Research “India Dairy Products Market by Type, Competition Forecast and Opportunities, 2011 – 2021”, the market for dairy products in India is projected to grow at a CAGR of over 7% during 2016 - 2021. In 2015, North India dominated the country’s dairy products market, on account of increasing per capita expenditure, rising youth population, introduction of value added dairy products, changing consumption patterns, and growing penetration of international players. India dairy products market is witnessing a shift towards healthier products such as probiotic drinks, yogurts, etc. Few of the leading players operating in India dairy products market include Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd., National Dairy Development Board, Karnataka Cooperative Milk Producers Federation Ltd., and Tamil Nadu Co-operative Milk Producers' Federation Limited, among others.

According to TechSci Research, Dairy will be the next generation of growth in India after beverages, water and Juices. Strong marketing presence, platform, digital advertisements and print campaigns will help this market in growing even at higher rate in the coming years. The flavoured milk beverages is the next big market after ‘Fresh milk’, The companies have started enter into this category, due to the growing demand for flavoured milks in the country, as the people started preferring healthier on-the-go drink options as compared to soda which is not seems as a good option for health in the country. Moreover, the companies are facing challenges by the government on account of using non eco-friendly packaging, they should use eco- friendly packaging material which can be decompose as soon as possible.