Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt Ltd (HCCB), the bottling arm of Coca-Cola India Pvt Ltd, has relocated its corporate headquarters to Bengaluru from Gurgaon to focus on its South India business, which contributes 40 per cent of the company’s volumes.
Nearly all employees have relocated to Bengaluru over the last 18 months. The Gurugram office will continue to operate, albeit on a relatively smaller scale.
“Bengaluru is centrally located to our top markets of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh and is driving distance away from 50 per cent of our plants. It also provides easy access to the Western market. The four Southern markets and the West comprises a big chunk of our business, therefore, Bengaluru is the ideal location for the HCCB corporate office,” T Krishnakumar (KK), outgoing CEO of HCCB and President of Coca-Cola India and South West Asia, told BusinessLine .
Under his stewardship, HCCB has turned into a ₹8,500 crore manufacturing giant with 19 company-owned plants that service almost two million retail outlets through a network of 5,000 distributors and ranks among India’s top 10 FMCG companies. The company directly employs 8,000 people. Christina Ruggiero, the newly appointed CEO of HCCB, who has relocated from company headquarters Atlanta to Bengaluru to become the first woman CEO of the company, brings to the table expertise in procurement, supply chain management and sourcing.
HCCB is expanding its manufacturing footprint with three new greenfield plants at Sanand in Gujarat, Hoshangabad in Madhya Pradesh and Nellore in Andhra Pradesh with bottling lines for carbonated beverages and juices/juice-based drinks, at a total investment of ₹1,750 crore. KK said the three plants are in various stages of completion.
Asked about the company’s investments in setting up a bottling plant in Yadgir district of Karnataka, which has been on hold for the last seven years and is awaiting final handover of land from the state government, he said: “Our plans for the plant are ready and we will start work as soon as we get the land. We have three plants in Karnataka – one in Hospet and two in Bidadi. The Yadgir plant has been designed to be the biggest plant in Karnataka.”
Coca-Cola’s investments in Yadgir were put on hold because the High Court had stayed the acquisition of 700 acres by the State as the farmers wanted more compensation for their acquired land.
“The issue of compensation to farmers for their land has been addressed and the government has been very positive about giving us the land,” added KK.