India has had the “strongest year ever” leading to a period of tremendous growth ahead, said John Murphy – global president and chief financial officer at beverage maker Coca-Cola at a recent Consumer Analyst Group of New York (CAGNY) 2023 conference.

Calling out the India team for a “stellar 2022”, Murphy added: “Early on in the year, our team was able to double down on both a couple of key categories and a couple of regions that were fuelling outsized growth.”

For the quarter ended December 2022, the Atlanta-based maker of Coke and Sprite soft drinks and Minute Maid juice had said its unit case volumes in developing and emerging markets benefited from “strong growth” in India – its fifth largest market globally.

James Quincey, Coca-Cola’s global chairman and CEO said at the same conference: “India had a cracking year last year, we’ve got a lot of hope for driving the business in India with horizontal expansion and adding retailers. He added that the number of lines going into India this year “is extraordinary, and the number of lines that are ordered for next year are also extraordinary”.

The company said its sparkling flavours unit case volumes declined 2 per cent for the December quarter but grew 5 per cent in the year. In the ready-to-drink beverages segment, the company gained value share, led by gains in India, Australia, Japan, and South Korea, it said.

Quincey mentioned a campaign – stump cam – implemented in India for Thums Up – as a “world first in marketing”, which enabled consumers to engage in promotions. “You still need to bring world-class level of marketing and thinking about the products, sticking with the India example,” he said.