Over a lakh shopkeepers and traders begin boycott of Coke and Pepsi citing health hazards and misuse of scarce water resources of state that is facing unprecedented drought

Chennai: Cola majors Pepsi and Coke ran into a boycott in Tamil Nadu with small and medium retailers jumping onto the Swadeshi brandwagon. Over 1.5 lakh members of the Tamil Nadu traders’ bodies had decided to stop stocking and selling MNC colas from Wednesday as the two global majors were killing domestic brands and also using up natural resources of the state at a time when it was facing its worst drought in over 100 years.

Support for the cola boycott by traders came in from former union health minister Anbumani Ramadoss who said that when he was the union minister the government had imposed a ban on sale of aerated drinks in schools and sale of junk food as well.

The decision to boycott Coke and Pepsi was taken in the month of January, at the peak of Jallikattu movement that was aimed at protecting the native breed of cows and bulls under threat from foreign breeds.

During that time itself, the traders’ body test marketed its idea of a boycotting the foreign cola drinks, citing health reasons as also the issue of domestic products. The soft drink majors became the most visible targets of the Swadeshi minded activists who got the trade body – Tamil Nadu Traders Associations federation to take up the boycott of Coke and Pepsi as they were killing local brands – like Bovonto, popular in Tamil Nadu.

It is manufactured and marketed by Kali Mark (Kalis Sparkling Water (P) Ltd.), which has offices and bottling plants at several locations in Tamil Nadu. The drink is mildly carbonated and has a tangy grape-cola taste. Kali Mark, a small player which withstood the onslaught of the cola majors during the 1990s. Its other offerings include Trio, Solo and Frutang.

There are other hyper local brands like Torino, 7Star, 777, cola, Fruitnik, Dailee, Mapillai (son-in-law) Maa (kevincare) and the list goes on. There would be over 100 local and hyper local brands – but among these the Kali Mark is more-well known as widely spread across Tamil Nadu.

All these local brands together account for some Rs 600 crore per annum in sales as compared to the two biggies – Coke and Pepsi that mop up close to Rs 1400 crore per annum.

On Wednesday morning, the traders’ body said that the response was encouraging with nearly 70 per cent of its members shutting out the cola majors. The shopkeepers were also not falling for attractive offers from Coke and Pepsi that were willing to give huge discounts and or free crates of soft drink bottles to the shopkeepers.

At many shops the owners put up posters saying No Coke, No Pepsi, said AM Vikrama Raja, president of the Federation of Tamil Nadu Traders Association.

“These foreign companies are also using up scarce water resources,” alleged K Mohan, secretary of the traders’s body.

“At least 75 per cent of the shop keepers and dealers of Coke and Pepsi across Tamil Nadu have stopped selling the beverages,” Mohan said. The others too would join the boycott he said.

The Indian Beverage Association (IBA) that spoke on behalf of Coke and Pepsi said in a statement that “the call for boycott is against the proven fundamentals of robust economic growth, and against the clarion call of “Making in India”.

The IBA said that Hindustan Coca-Cola and PepsiCo India are local companies, registered in India and compliant to all applicable rules and regulations.