Keeping with its trend of launching exciting campaigns during the festive season, Coca-Cola Nepal recently unveiled its new Dashain campaign titled 'Sambanda Utsav Swad Sanga'. The campaign implies that Dashain is a time when families come together to enjoy, share meals and deepen the bonds. The Himalayan Times caught up with Country Director of Coca-Cola in Nepal Adarsh Avasthi to gain insight into the brand's journey, the Dashain campaign, future plans and much more.
Excerpts:
Coca-Cola Nepal is going to celebrate its 50th anniversary in Nepal next year. Could you share the brand's journey so far?
With just a few bottles of Coca-Cola, we had humble beginnings in Nepal in February of 1973. Then in 1978, our first plant in Balaju started local production. We then expanded our plant in Bharatpur as well in 1986. Since then most of our production has been in Nepal. So Coke has had a good, stable long-term journey in Nepal, during which I think we got a great amount of love from consumers. But, we're also trying to better communicate with our Nepali consumers.
Therefore, even our global campaigns are localised for the Nepali market when they are launched here. For example, a few years back we had started 'Share a Coke' global campaign, which aimed to create a more personal relationship with consumers and inspire shared moments of happiness. It was localised as 'Mann Kholaun Coke Sanga' in Nepal. Similarly, the theme of last year's campaign was 'Dhanyabaad' and aimed to inspire and encourage consumers to express gratitude with a bottle of coke to frontline workers.
Coca-Cola is such a global brand. It is sold in over 200 countries. How does the company stay relevant for consumers in Nepal?
Firstly, we always ensure that any communication or any innovation is relevant to Nepali consumers. For instance, a few years back we launched the 'Jigri' pack because we realised that our consumers, especially college students, yearn to carry portable bottles. This year, we introduced 'Kanchu' bottle which refers to the smallest and youngest pack for Coca-Cola's beverage portfolio in Nepal.
Even 'Kanchu' has Coca-Cola printed in Nepali language. So, our innovations are sustainable as well. Close to 40 per cent of our packages in Nepal are glass bottles which are recyclable.
Even in terms of our portfolio, we're trying new things. This year, we added apple flavoured Fanta to Fanta's colourful portfolio in Nepal.
During the launch of Coca-Cola Dashain campaign, you mentioned there are many surprises in the campaign. Could you please elaborate?
I am very excited about the theme for this year 'Sambandha Utsav Swad Sanga' as it perfectly reflects what Dashain is all about - a celebration of relationships, coming together and bonding over the best tasting food that is prepared for Dashain. With the Dashain special Coke bottles, we wish our consumers many magical moments of togetherness and hope everyone cherishes the memories of the festivities.
To make Dashain more special, Coca-Cola has introduced five new labels which carry illustrations of artworks representing Dashain in Nepal. The artworks include activities like kite flying, putting on tika, eating with family, ping (Dashain swing) and Deusi Bhailo celebrations.
Similarly, as food is a huge part of Dashain, we've collaborated with BBC Master Chef Professionals winner Santosh Shah who has curated five recipes for the festival.
Meanwhile, consumers can also participate in the cooking contest by uploading videos of their food on social media and tag Coca-Cola Nepal and chef Shah. Three lucky winners will get a chance to meet and greet the celebrated chef.
How is the current scenario of the beverage industry? Are there any further expansion plans for Coca-Cola in Nepal?
Talking about the current scenario of the beverage industry, we have been getting lots of love from consumers and trade partners. Our products are sold through more than 150,000 retailers across Nepal. We've 2,000-plus resources directly and indirectly employed in the system. Earlier this year, the excise duty was hiked significantly. There have been reports of some products being imported from India owing to the huge price difference between the two markets. A stable tax regime is crucial for investor confidence.
Having said that, we do want to continue to invest in Nepal and are looking into expanding our presence further.
Coca-Cola believes in a 'better shared future'. Could you elaborate on this?
As a responsible global organisation, we've been looking at end-to-end throughout the value chain, on how we can make our business more sustainable so that we have a better shared future with all consumers, communities where we operate. And as part of that, we have multiple water replenishment projects like rainwater harvesting, groundwater recharge and watershed projects with our sustainability partners in Nepal which ensure that we are restoring and helping them to preserve more water than we consume.
Similarly, we have launched 'World without Waste' initiative where we partnered with local communities, NGOs, industries, and consumers to collect and recycle packaging.
We also believe in empowering women in our value chain.
For this, we are currently conducting a 'Saksham' (capable) training programme that intends to train 1,000 women running grocery stores and small eatery outlets across the value chain in Nepal.
Can you share any details about the upcoming campaigns?
I think there is an exciting time ahead in terms of economic activities, as finally people have started to socialise by meeting and greeting their near and dear ones. The whole Dashain campaign is really our focus right now. We want our consumers to have a great festive season with family and friends. Meanwhile, the global FIFA world cup is around the corner. So, we will try to make sure that consumers relish the world cup football, and we will give them the opportunity to be part of that tournament via an exciting contest.
A version of this article appears in the print on September 17, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.
