Coca-Cola’s VIO launches in India

Coca-Cola India has announced the pilot launch of its ready-to-drink, flavored milk product, VIO.

VIO flavoured milk has been developed specifically for the Indian palate at Coca-Cola India’s R&D center in Gurgaon, with input from the R&D centers in Atlanta and Shanghai.

VIO has been created with a blend of saffron, pistachio and almond flavors in the respective ‘Kesar Treat’ and ‘Almond Delight’ variants. The product contains no preservatives and Coca-Cola says that they will be made available in convenient 200 ml aseptic packaging at for $0.37 (Rs 25/-).

Venkatesh Kini, president, Coca-Cola India and South West Asia said, “VIO flavored milk, which has been jointly developed in collaboration with our largest bottling partner, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages, adds to our ‘Made in India, Made for India’ range of beverage innovations.

“This product not only promises long-term business growth, but also leverages our system’s value chain in procuring ingredients and raw materials from the dairy farming community. We look forward to the consumers’ feedback, which will help us decide on scaling this pilot launch further.”

Launch part of Republic Day activities

As part of the pilot launch, VIO will first be made available exclusively across 500 Reliance Retail outlets across the country, as part of the Republic Day ‘Big Day’ extravaganza.

Reliance Retail will build awareness about the product through special promotions, sampling the product to its regular consumers at part of the ‘loyalty program.’

Debabrata Mukherjee, vice president, marketing and commercial, Coca-Cola India and South West Asia said, “VIO aims to establish new consumption occasions for the consumers, over and above the standard in-home consumption.

“We aim to build higher brand recall and awareness. This will be followed by a strong communication plan which includes digital and print campaigns. We expect VIO to set the trend in making out of home, on-the-go milk consumption in vogue for consumers for different age groups across the social strata.”