The FMCG industry hopes for a revival in consumption growth in 2025 with some 'green shoots' already visible, after having a challenging year amid escalating input costs and a double-digit rise in food inflation, which ultimately slowed down the pace of the urban market growth in the second half of 2024. Soaring prices of commodities such as palm oil, coffee, cocoa and wheat forced FMCG players to go for a hike of 3 to 5 per cent or resort to shrinkflation by reducing pack sizes and grammage to retain attractive price points, fearing a volume loss.
Analysts are advising a cautious stance on the steel sector due to a combination of factors. The major one is that China has maintained momentum on steel exports in CY24 and there could also be domestic over-supply in the medium-term. Trade data for Jan-Feb'24 shows that China's finished steel exports rose 31 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to 15.9 MT.
Coca-Cola India on Wednesday launched Vanilla Coke in India. The company said that the new drink offers the 'same true taste of Coca-Cola with a hint of vanilla flavour.'
Close on the heels of a major health scare on finding pesticides in bottled drinking water, CSE claimed that the bottled soft drinks owned by PepsiCo and Coke also failed the same health standards testing positive for pesticides.
Coca-Cola on Tuesday forayed into the cold coffee and iced tea business and extended its tie-up with McDonald's to sell the cold beverages under the brand name Georgia.
'If people want to work 90 hours, we should let them work.' 'If people want to work 30 hours, you should let them work 30 hours.' 'But they should not expect the same level of success and attention.'
With Maaza, which already has the biggest share in mango beverages in the Indian market, Coke is betting on a winning horse, say experts.
After rows over water usage at its plants in Kerala and Uttar Pradesh, it is now the turn of its Gujarat factory.
"We do not have it anywhere else other than the Jharia coal fields in Jharkhand. The quality is also not very good for steel-making. So the Indian steel industry will continue to depend on imported coal," says Arun Kumar Jagatramka, MD, Gujarat NRE Coke.
The Central Pollution Control Board has asked Tata Steel to submit the closure schedule of the battery at the earliest, minister of state for Steel A Sai Prathap said in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha. Coke oven battery is a plant where coking coal is converted into coke.
Clean air needs action all year round; and that it will work only if we act jointly and at scale, asserts Sunita Narain.
'The biggest impact will be on coal and hence on power cost. Then comes iron ore, coking coal, bauxite.'
'The Budget will be positive, continuing on the path of growth taken so far.'
Coca-Cola will invest up to $70 million this year along with its bottlers in expanding capacity, while announcing a slew of new launches including a new Coke variant called Coke Vanilla and two new variants in soft drink concentrate Sunfill.
The French designer, who famously lost 90 pounds by drinking only the low-calorie drink, has launched three bottles which will bear his name and immediately recognisable ponytailed silhouette, reported Daily Mail online.
The Coke one drinks today is perhaps "much more safe" than the milk one consumed or the fruits and vegetables that one ate, a top official of Hindustan Coca Beverages Private Limited, the bottling division of the Coca Cola company, said.
'In the early years of this century, barely 10 years after liberalisation, drinking Coke was still cool,' notes Uttaran Das Gupta.
Given that teens as a segment forms a critical part of Coca Cola's spend, a significant part of the annual budget will be spent on Coke Studio.
Just four years before, Coke factories consumed over four litres of water for every litre of beverage sold. Now, it is 2.5 litres, a reduction of 34 per cent.
Coca Cola has got a clean chit from TERI for eco compliance. Its report said Coke meets with all Indian regulatory requirements.
The price cuts by Coke and Pepsi follow the launch of the 200 ml size last year for Rs 5.
We do what the boss wants us to. And we do not mind putting body and soul on the line, notes Suveen Sinha.
Cola wars are pass, it's things like mobile phone services that are the real competition for Coke products, said Neville Isdell, chairman and chief operating officer of Coca-Cola, the world's largest beverage company. In India, strategy is no longer about competing with global rival PepsiCo or other local soft drink brands. Instead, it's about influencing consumer choice away from such purchases as rock-bottom pre-paid mobile cards to buying a Coke product.
Noticing irregularities in coking coal purchases, the Steel Ministry has set up a committee to look into the rationale behind PSUs buying more of the commodity when it is expensive, and less of it when cheaper.
That's a real big deal for this store-owner in a small village off Agra which goes without power for several days at a stretch.
Exports of 19 major commodities, including petroleum products, coal and marine items, saw growth in terms of volume during April 2023-February 2024, even as they witnessed contraction in value terms during the same period. Government officials said the rise in export volume despite a decline in value implies that these commodities show a stronger market demand.
The Winona Coca-Cola Bottling Comapany has been filling the bottle since it opened in 1932, eighty years ago.
The International Public Health Team of the Americas, that had visited Plachimada, has called upon the Kerala government to immediately withdraw all support to the Coca-Cola plant and to make 'Kerala free from Coke and Pepsi.'
Tata Steel has built an iron ore chest of nearly 600 million tonnes (mt) and will look for more as it prepares for life beyond 2030 when its legacy captive mines come up for auction. The lease for four of its existing iron ore mines -- Joda East, Noamundi, Katamati, and Khondbond -- that feed the domestic operation with low-cost iron ore is going to expire in 2030, following changes in mining regulations. The year will also coincide with Tata Steel's ambitious target of doubling steelmaking capacity in India to 40 mt, increasing the need for iron ore. The company is pushing the pedal to ensure that it has enough resources to meet enhanced needs.
Gujarat NRE Coke Ltd has informed BSE that the Board of Directors at its meeting held on January 18, 2003 has recommended issue of bonus shares in the ratio of 1:2.
After Sanju's success, Ranbir has been charging Rs 6 crore to Rs 8 crore per brand per year.
Coca-Cola's proposal for giving Indian shareholders differential voting rights is believed to have come up for discussion at Foreign Investment Promotion Board's meeting held on March 13, sources said in New Delhi on Friday.
Coca-Cola India said on Monday it complies with all "relevant EU norms" while manufacturing its bottled water brand Kinley.\n\n\n\n
Cola brands look for life in a parallel universe. Global majors Coke and Pepsi are going all out to stock up with health and nutrition offerings.
Coal India's (CIL's) revenue for the first quarter of 2024-25 (Q1FY25) came in at Rs 36,500 crore, up 1 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) and down 3 per cent sequentially, which was in line with consensus. The blended average selling price was Rs 1,687/tonne, down 5 per cent Y-o-Y and down 1 per cent Q-o-Q, which was below estimates. The adjusted operating profit (excluding overburden removal or OBR costs) stood at Rs 11,500 crore up 3 per cent Y-o-Y and up 17 per cent Q-o-Q, which beat the street. This was due to lower operating expenses.
India and Russia on Tuesday set a target of $100 billion in annual trade volume by 2030 and vowed to develop a robust bilateral payment settlement mechanism using national currencies. The two sides also inked a total of nine agreements to further broadbase cooperation in a range of areas including in the economic domain following summit talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
