Coca-Cola India, the Indian arm of the beverage company, on Monday said the company had sold 1 billion unit cases in 2019 and was hoping to double this number in five years.

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“I have got a great local team who are doing all the planning to double the business,” James Quincey, Coca-Cola’s Chairman and CEO, told CNBC-TV18’s Priya Sheth.

The Indian economy has been slow lately, with Q3 GDP coming in at 4.7 percent recently.

Still, Quincy said “a bit less or more growth” would not distract Coca-Cola from its long-term investment plan in India.

“As we look at our investment programme, we look on a multiyear basis and we see the long-term potential for growth in India and so whether one quarter is a little bit more or a little bit less is not going to distract us from our long-term investment plan because the potential is there to build and to double the business in the next five years,” Quincy said.

On its overall strategy, the executive said the company will continue to “stick with what we know about how to do it.”

“Investing in the brands, in innovation, in new variants, in new flavours and building out the infrastructure of distribution and logistics, it is what has worked and got us to where we are all now,” he said.

India has broken into the top-five markets for Coca-Cola and is on its way to getting among the company’s top-three markets.

He also talked about the recent disruption because of violence.

“If there are disruptions in the functioning of a society, there will be some degree of problems for all businesses. India is a vibrant democracy and it needs to work out what is going on. It is hoped that things get worked out in an appropriate democratic manner,” said Quincy.

First Published:Mar 2, 2020 5:54 PM IST