Coca-Cola volumes fall in India amid heavy rains and soft demand in Q3

New Delhi: The Coca-Cola Company reported a decline in beverage volumes across its Asia Pacific markets, including India, during the September quarter, attributing the drop to weaker consumer spending and adverse weather conditions.

“In Asia Pacific, volume declined across each of the operating units, driven by softer consumer spending, weaker industry performance and inclement weather in a few markets, like India and the Philippines; however, we gained value share and grew revenue and profit for the segment,” said Henrique Braun, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, during the company’s earnings call on Tuesday.

Braun added that to sustain growth, Coca-Cola is implementing a more detailed channel execution plan, adjusting brand and price architecture with a focus on affordability and investing for future expansion in key markets.

He noted that India presents a “huge potential for growth in volume over many, many years” but at “much lower prices”. In contrast, markets such as Australia and Japan are performing at higher realised prices given their developed economies.

“And so one of the predominant effects in the Asia Pacific is how fast did each of those components grew? And in this particular quarter, as we talked about earlier, India, because of the monsoon, China, because of some of the economic pressures and ASEAN, those markets underperformed our expectations in volume terms,” Braun said.

In 2025, several Indian states saw significantly higher rainfall in July and August, disrupting consumer demand and supply chains across the broader FMCG sector.

Coca-Cola said its unit case volume in the Asia Pacific zone fell 1% in the September quarter, as growth in its flagship Trademark Coca-Cola brand was offset by a decline in sparkling flavours. Unit case volume refers to the number of cases of company beverages sold directly or through bottling partners to customers.

Despite the volume drop, net operating revenue in the Asia Pacific region rose 10.6% to USD 1.5 billion for the quarter ended September 26, 2025. The company recorded a “net gain of USD 102 million and incurred USD 7 million of transaction costs related to the refranchising of our bottling operations in certain territories in India.”

During the quarter, Coca-Cola also completed the sale of a 40% stake in its Indian bottling arm, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages(HCCBL), to the Jubilant Bhartia Group, as part of its ongoing refranchising strategy. In July, it sold a similar 40% ownership stake in Hindustan Coca-Cola Holdings to the same group.

The company said it would continue building a portfolio of “consumer-loved brands” and pursue long-term growth through partnerships with “trusted, capable and motivated bottling partners.”

Coca-Cola’s consolidated net operating revenue rose 5% globally to USD 12.45 billion.

Commenting on the results, Chairman and CEO James Quincey said, “While the overall environment has continued to be challenging, we’ve stayed flexible, adapting plans where needed and investing for growth.”

“By offering choice across our total beverage portfolio and leveraging our franchise model’s unique strengths, we’re gaining ground and strengthening our leadership position. We’re confident we can deliver on our 2025 guidance while also working to achieve our longer-term objectives,” he added.

India remains Coca-Cola’s fifth-largest market.