NAIROBI, Kenya, May 9 – Coca-Cola celebrated its 125th anniversary on May 8 with a pledge to continue expanding its Africa operations from the Nairobi hub since its beginnings in a Pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia.
Nathan Kalumbu, Coca-Cola President for Central, East and West Africa said the company is gearing towards boosting its business across the globe.
“Around the world consumers are drinking about 50 billion servings of all other stuff, Coca-Cola is at 1.7 billion. When we think about the opportunity and age of our business we are just beginning in terms of the kind of business we want to create,” said Mr Kalumbu.
As the number one non-alcoholic beverage brand in the world, Coca-Cola plans to double its current business of 1.7 billion servings a day to 3.2 billion, by the year 2020.
“Our commitment is strong and our goal is to help build a better future for everyone in millions of communities in every country we operate,” said Mr Kalumbu.
Coca-Cola products have been sold in Kenya for 63 years and Mr Kalumbu said the country is now the epicenter of the company’s growth ambition in Africa.
“Kenya was recently handed the mandate to host the expanded regional office including French West Africa and Nigeria. The growing youth population, middle class and increasing urbanisation are all evidence of a growing economy. There is no better time to invest in Africa than now,” said Mr Kalumbu.
With the competition of its soft drink counterpart Pepsi-Cola infiltrating the Kenyan Market, Mr Kalumbu says it is a good sign for the industry and consumers and that Coca-Cola will continue to focus on its consumer based strategies.
As far as its future in Kenya, Coca-Cola says it will continue to invest its popular Minute Maid Juice brand, as well as a canning plant and expansion of its bottling facilities.
Mr Kalumbu said ultimately Coca-Cola will improve its production efficiency while remaining friendly to the environment.
“As we move into our next 125 years, we will help build a better future by being good stewards of the environment and true partners with communities everywhere as we keep building our business.”
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