Kandhari Global Beverages, the independent bottler for Coca-Cola in India, is looking to double its revenues in the next five years from the current ₹4,500 crore. The group has acquired additional bottling territory of North Gujarat from Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages, the company-owned bottling arm of the beverage major in India. The company’s top executive said that it will explore options going for an IPO in the future; it is also open for expansion to international territories, if opportunity arises.
The company also manages bottling operations for Coca-Cola in parts of Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Chandigarh, Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh. It did not share commercials of the transaction.
Varinder Pal Singh Kandhari, Managing Director of Kandhari Global Beverages Pvt Ltd (KGBPL), said, “The acquisition of North Gujarat is synergistic to the territories that we have currently and help us expand our operations. This will enable us to improve our supply chain and increase our bottling capacities. This deal has been funded with a mix of internal accruals and debt. We are committed to make substantial investments over the next few years to grow our operations.”
As part of this transaction, the beverage major’s plant at Sanand will transition to Kandhari Global Beverages.
“With the addition of the Sanand plant, our capacity will grow to 15,500 bottles per minute from the current 12,000 bottles per minute. We are also in the process of setting up a new state-of-the art plant in Jammu & Kashmir. At the same time, we are also exploring opportunities to set up a greenfield facility in Kota, Rajasthan,” he added.
The company said while its Coca-Cola’s anchor bottling partner is in India, if opportunities arise it will be open for international expansion opportunities.
Betting on Summer
With temperatures rising across the country, the bottler is betting big on the upcoming Summer season. “ In the first nine weeks of this year , we are witnessing a strong uptick in demand and garnering a double-digit growth over the previous year. So, we are very bullish on the upcoming Summer season. We are putting a lot of investments at the front-end — whether it’s marketing, distribution and supply chain to ensure the beverages are available widely in our territories,” Kandhari said.
Asked if the company will look at listing at the bourses, he said, “In the future, we may look at an IPO. But I cannot comment on the timings as we are governed by Coca-Cola norms and protocols, and it will depend on when we get consent from them.”
The aerated beverage industry has been witnessing intensifying competition with the new entrants and regional competition.
The divestment of North Gujarat territory by Coca-Cola is in line with its global strategy of adopting an asset-light strategy. It has been refranchising company-owned bottling operations in various territories. In 2024, it had divested Rajasthan, Bihar, North-East and parts of West Bengal to its four independent bottlers. More recently, Jubilant Bhartia Group is set to acquire a 40 per cent stake in the company’s bottling operations.