Coca-Cola strengthens roots in Chinese market

The Coca-Cola Company is expecting a recovery in the Chinese market and has confidence in its performance this year, boosted by its growth strategy, rising investments in plants, as well as an enhanced presence on its online and offline channels, and marketing innovations, according to the company.

When talking about the China market, James Quincey, chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company, said on the earnings call on February 14th, "the reopening of China is going to be a positive for the business… We will see a more normal level of volume in China and a recovery to the 2019 or growth on the 2019 numbers starting to come through."

Despite the positive forecast for this year, in the fourth quarter last year unit case volume in the Asia Pacific market declined by 1 percent, driven by strong growth in India and Vietnam, which was more than offset by a decline in China, according to the report of the quarterly results.

Zhu Danpeng, a food and drink analyst in China, forecasts that the company is to have an explosive recovery this year and the drop in volume last year was only temporary.

Globally, the company has seen its fourth quarter revenue rise 7 percent year-on-year to $10.13 billion and its operating income reached $2.08 billion, up 24 percent year-on-year. Its full year revenue grew 11 percent to $43 billion and operating income reached $10.91 billion, up 6 percent year-on-year. The company expects to deliver an organic revenue growth of 7 percent to 8 percent this year.

Quincey said, "As we begin 2023, we continue to invest in our capabilities and strengthen alignment with our bottling partners to maintain flexibility. We are keeping consumers at the center of our innovation and marketing investments, while also leveraging our expertise in revenue growth management and execution."

In 2022, Coca-Cola China joined hands with two bottling partners, COFCO Coca-Cola and Swire Coca-Cola, to keep investing in China in an effort to increase local production capacity and meet the growing demand of consumers in the Chinese market.

In January 2023, Swire Coca-Cola proposed a project with a total planned investment of 2 billion yuan in the Kunshan Economic & Technological Development Zone (KETD), which was the single largest strategic investment of Swire Coca-Cola in the Chinese market during recent years.

On levering digital engagement to connect with more consumers, the company continued to enhance its presence in online channels and promote the digital transformation, resulting in strong growth in sales in its flagship store on the JD platform and the new retail platforms of Alibaba last year.

Coca-Cola is focused on having the right leaders and an organized structure to deliver on its growth strategy. In January, Gilles Leclerc was named the president of Coca-Cola Greater China & Mongolia. Leclerc replaced Vamsi Mohan Thati who has served in the role since 2020. Leclerc was the president of The McDonald's Division of The Coca-Cola Company.

wangzhuoqiong@chinadaily.com.cn