The Coca Cola Company, which operates in more than 200 countries, and markets more than 3000 beverage products, is now concentrating on growing with communities. The company has come up with a new initiative of distributing solar coolers to small retailers especially women to help them earn a bit more.
The hottest season of the year is around, and small retailers find it difficult to sell chilled beverages due to power cuts. Power cuts are a matter of concern in our country, and there is hardly anyone unaffected by frequent power cuts. It affects both domestic arena and businesses in a large way. The move by Coca Cola to distribute solar coolers will help small retailers sell chilled beverages in summer, and it is said that the coolers remains chilled even after two and half hours of sunset.
Coca Cola began this initiative in India, as Atul Singh, the President and CEO of Coca Cola India and South West Asia, in one of his market trips saw small retailers finding it difficult to sell chilled drinks in summer. The CEO after his market trip had a brain storming session with his techies to arrive at a solution for the problem. This led to Coca Cola’s “eKoCool” initiative.
The “eKoCool” program aims at distributing solar coolers to women retailers, and this will certainly help them earn their livelihood. The solar coolers are designed not only to store and chill beverages, but also to charge lanterns and mobile phones. This will undoubtedly help communities earn a little bit more.
The initiative began with the distribution of 20 solar coolers in Agra which was a great success. The sales saw a heavy jump with a fivefold increase and this led to the company installing 110 more solar coolers. The company has also ordered 500 more coolers as a move to expand the initiative.
The company in the second phase aims to distribute around 1,000 solar coolers to the women in U.P. Coca Cola is aimed at developing a sustainable business, and the company says the way to this is to first understand the customer needs. The company began its operations in India two decades ago and had focused on building sustainable communities right from training the owners of kirana stores to helping mango farmers. The company also aims to seek global attention with its new green initiative.
