Sustainable Agriculture

Through an investment of INR 10,943 crores (USD 1.7 billion) by Coca-Cola India and fruit suppliers and processors over the next five years and our sustainable agriculture interventions like ‘Unnati Mango’, ‘Unnati Orange’ and ‘Meetha Sona Unnati’, we are working towards transforming the fruit and agriculture value chain in India, and the lives of 400,000 farmers that are part of our supply chain.

Creating a new fruit economy

While India’s agriculture contributes 14 percent to the  GDP,  it still employs more than half of the country. The green revolution spearheaded dramatic improvement in food grain yields and helped pull India out of the food security trap, but this has stagnated  over the years. Farmers,   trapped in the vicious circle of low productivity, low prices and low income made worse by   erratic rainfall,  are therefore the focus of the Prime Minister’s development vision with the commitment to double their incomes by 2022.

At the same time, a silent revolution is taking place where horticulture yields  are much higher, with the annual production growth  doubling that of food grain production between 2005 and 2015. An immense opportunity to process fruit output exists as currently only 2 percent ends up in processing. This can generate gains through supplementing farm incomes, creating job opportunities, driving exports and reducing wastage which currently stands at 22 percent. This is the essence of  our fruit circular economy initiative.

Coca- Cola India’s fruit circular economy: local produce fulfilling global needs

Our fruit circular economy will expand fruit procurement from India to meet the global system’s needs in the coming years. It is built on the success of our decade long ‘Project Unnati’ which saw us double productivity and raise output and farm incomes.

The project also helped expand the mango fruit processing industry, with the Coca-Cola system procuring more for domestic as well as global consumption. We also introduced sustainable agriculture practices amongst farmers including women. 

Result: Our interventions across the value chain from farmer to grocer is driving institutional changes.

The recent launch of Minute Maid Pulpy Mosambi marks the beginning of our transformation journey towards creating a sustainable fruit circular economy in India.

 

Along with an investment of USD 5 billion in India between 2012 and 2020, our growing footprint will also provide a fillip to our local agricultural suppliers and the farm economy. By introducing products like Fanta Fruity Orange in the “juice with fizz” category, we are increasing the juice content in our products. This is aligned to the Government’s vision for the food processing sector and the role that the beverage industry can play in benefitting Indian farmers.

In 2017, Coca-Cola India was awarded the Navabharat CSR Award for ’Best Practices for Promoting Farmers’ Livelihood & Welfare’

To learn more: click here to download our full Sustainability Update 2016/17