Coca-Cola India to re-enter dairy market

Coca-Cola India, the domestic unit of Atlanta-based beverage maker Coca-Cola Co, has roped in Chandrasekar Radhakrishnan as Vice President, strategy and insights, for the company's India operations, and Sundeep Bajoria as Vice President for its south-west Asia operations. According to Indian media reports, Radhakrishnan will take charge of the company's strategic initiatives to accelerate the pace of innovation and assess opportunities to offer a broader portfolio of beverages to consumers. Bajoria, a Coca-Cola veteran, will work towards making south-west Asia a growth engine for the company. The development comes at a time when the local unit of the American beverages company has been trying to make fresh attempts to crack the Indian dairy market with a new set of products, after an unsuccessful attempt with Vio, a ready-to-drink packaged flavoured milk brand, launched in 2016. Coca-Cola India, which has been selling aerated drinks such as Coca-Cola and Thums Up for more than two decades, and lately fruit-based aerated and non-aerated beverages, will re-enter India's white gold market, primarily dominated by cooperatives, with three different sets of products - chocolate-based drinks, frozen fruit desserts, fusion of milk and fruits - during the third quarter of the current fiscal, with an eye on the festive season.