Sri Lanka has strong economic base - Abhishek

Shirajiv Sirimane

Coca-Cola Far East Ltd, will continue to make investments in marketing initiatives backed by focus on execution in the bottling operations, resulting in solid growth in sparkling and still beverages.

“We place a high emphasis on innovation, whether it is on technology or our manufacturing systems or our wide portfolio of products. We are focused on building long term sustainable growth and we will continue to invest in the Sri Lankan market,” said Abhishek Jugran, Country Head, Sri Lanka & Maldives, Coca-Cola Far East Ltd.

Following are excerpts of the interview

Q: Abhishek, you head the Coca–Cola Business in Sri Lanka & Maldives. A brief introduction of yourself and your stay in Sri Lanka so far?

A: I have worked in the Consumer Goods industry for 15 years in various Marketing, Sales and General Management roles. My work has taken me to various countries, including India, the Middle East, North Africa , Pakistan , Nigeria and now Sri Lanka & Maldives! My international stints have given me a rich and diverse experience. I have been working with the beverage industry with Coca-Cola for the last five years. I live in Colombo with my wife Shreeja and son Aryeman.

Sri Lanka is by far, one of the most picturesque countries I have been to. The weather is great, the people are kind and helpful and the land is simply serene. I have been here for almost 2 years and living in this country has been privilege. It has been a very positive experience working and living in this country.

Q: Your view of the Beverage industry in Sri Lanka?

A: Sri Lanka’s beverage industry is growing. Consumers at present, have many a choice in terms selecting what type of beverage they want, at what pack and on what occasion.

That being said, the industry still has a lot of potential to grow. This is a country which had a relatively low per capita consumption level for packaged beverages and we see steady and robust growth in both sparkling and still beverage categories in the future. The per capita consumption of our products is only15. Contrast this to a global average of 92, 32 in China and 675 in Mexico.

We also see beverage companies collaborating to put together a robust growth agenda.Last year, a number of beverage players came together to launch the Beverage Association of Sri Lanka, which is a platform for beverage companies to discuss, debate and leverage their collective voices to grow the industry further. Coca-Cola is a member of the BAOSL and we are very hopeful about the opportunities offered to all beverage companies.

We need to continue to do the right things each day and at all times. We are very excited by the opportunity which is lying before us to further grow the packaged ready to drink beverage business in the country.

Q: What are Coke’s future plans?

A: Coca-Cola has been operational in Sri Lanka for more than fifty years and we have slowly built our portfolio to provide consumers a choice of global and local beverages. We have launched many beverages that have been developed, keeping the local tastes in mind, Sri- Lanka’s popular beverages Fanta Portello, Fanta Cream Soda and Lion Ginger beer, apart from leveraging global brands like Trademark Coca-Cola, Fanta and Sprite. One of the Company’s new product variants, Minute Maids Mixed Fruit, which was developed specially for local tastes and launched last year, had been gaining popularity amongst consumers across the country.

We continued making investments in marketing initiatives backed by focus on execution in the bottling operations resulting in solid growth in sparkling and still beverages. We place high emphasis on innovation, whether it be technology or our manufacturing systems or our wide portfolio of products. We are focused on building long term sustainable growth and we would continue to invest in the Sri Lankan market.

Our efforts in Sri Lanka need to be directed at being the beverage of choice all day, every day. We need to continue to do the right things each day and at all times. Today, we lead the beverage industry, but while our business opportunities are enormous, our commitment to the consumers and communities in which we operate, is even greater. In our journey to become a profitable, sustainable growth company, our management structure has evolved to sharpen external focus on the market place with greater speed, productivity and effectiveness.

Q: Can you tell us a little about Coke’s CSR initiatives?

A: Sustainability is a crucial component of Coca-Cola’s global business strategy and a vital component of our Vision 2020. In Sri Lanka, we have designed various programs under the global sustainability framework of ‘Me We World’, with an emphasis on Water and Sanitation, Climate Protection and Promoting Healthy Active Living.

We partner with the UNDP for the ‘Every Drop Matters’ Project in Trincomalee and Polonnaruwa districts to help improve water supply and sanitation facilities in villages. We have also undertaken to improve the water and sanitation conditions in the war-affected areas of Kattankudy with UNDP and Urban Council of Kattankudy. We were very happy when this project won the ‘Best CSR Award’ by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and the President’s Award in 2012.

This year we have scaled up our PET recycling project titled ‘Give Back Life’ – an initiative to manage the growing quantity of PET bottle waste. We had launched this in 2008, and this year we are involving schools to become a part of the project to help foster the younger generation into environmental conservation and recycling.

One of our largest grassroots level initiatives is the ‘Coca-Cola Cricket Pathway’, a series of cricket camps organized with the Aravinda de Silva Cricket Foundation and Sri Lanka Cricket. We are hoping to groom Sri Lanka’s rural and regional youth to be the future of cricket. We belief in promoting active healthy lifestyles and this initiative is a commitment in that direction. We are very happy to say that Coca-Cola Cricket Pathway’ has trained over 1200 budding young cricketers, from 392 cricket playing schools, across all 25 districts of Sri Lanka so far.

We are also empowering 12,500 women in Sri Lanka in an economically sustainable manner as part of the Company’s global mission to empower 5 million women by the year 2020.

Q: What is your view of Sri Lanka today?

A: Sri Lanka has a strong economic base and so the economy should look up from where it is currently. However, the country needs strong and continued partnerships between civil society, business and the government to realize the promise that it holds.

Q: Your opinion on working in Sri Lanka

A: Like I said before- working here has been a very positive experience for me. I have a great team to work with, I have made quite a few friends here as well and the work atmosphere and people make my job easy. It is of course a bit hard not knowing the local language, but that gives me a chance to learn a new language!

Q: What is your vision for Sri Lanka?

A: Sri Lanka has the potential to attract foreign investment and resources, which help economy prosper. It could easily be one of the leading economies for a country of its size and demography.

Q: Can you recall an unforgettable incident in Sri Lanka? Please tell us a little about it?

A: Well if I could say so, something that I have always cherished deep in my mind is the time I visited Kattankudy. We had just completed our project on water and sanitation and a delegation from Coca-Cola, UNDP and the Urban Council visited the site with M.L.AM. Hizbullah M.P, Deputy Minister for Child Development and Women’s Affairs. I remember how the entire community gathered to welcome us with garlands. It was very special. They treated us so well and all this because we had provided them with clean drinking water and adequate sanitation. It was a bit overwhelming, but we felt happy that we had made a difference to the lives of these people in our small way.

Q: What is your favourite place to holiday in Sri Lanka?

A: I always recommend Sri Lanka to anyone wishing to travel! The beaches are absolutely gorgeous and so are the hills. I have been across the country from Colombo to Trincomallee to Galle to the eastern provinces and I honestly can’t pick one over the other!