Indians may have to pay more for their cola this summer as American giants PepsiCo and Coca-Cola are set to raise prices of their fizzy drinks in the country, according to a new report.
Both the beverage makers may raise prices by 6-14% across portfolios, the first such price hike in India since 2014, a report in Business Standard newspaper said.
The upcoming price hike will be applicable for only PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottles and can SKUs (shelf keeping units) of Pepsi and Coca-Cola. According to the report, the 600-ml PET bottle of Coca-Cola, ThumsUp, Sprite, Pepsi and 7UP would be raised to Rs 38 per unit in Delhi compared with Rs 35 earlier, a hike of 8.6%. Whereas certain other brands like Mountain Dew would witness a sharper jump in price to Rs 40 per bottle (up 14.3%).
Prices of 2-litre PET bottles of most brands are proposed to be revised upwards by 5.9% to Rs 90 compared with Rs 85 earlier, while a 1.25-litre PET bottle may now cost Rs 65 compared with Rs 60 earlier (up 8.3%).
However, prices of smaller-sized glass bottle SKUs are likely to remain unchanged at Rs 12 for 200ml and Rs 15 for 300ml as they are targeted towards price-sensitive consumers, said the report.
Given the fact that PET bottles and cans now constitute 60% of the industry’s volume uptake, the price hike is likely to be significantly positive for both PepsiCo and Coca-Cola. To recall, Coke’s bottling partner in India, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages, posted a net loss of Rs 118 crore in FY18 after the company absorbed the impact of higher taxes after the goods and services tax (GST) regime kicked in after July 2017, the report noted.