Coca-Cola has hiked prices of its products by up to five per cent in

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at least two major aerated beverages markets. In May 2011, the beverage goliath that sells Thums Up, Sprite, Fanta and Maaza among others had hiked prices of its drinks by around five per cent.

The present price hike in Maharashtra and Delhi will see 600 millilitre bottles of Thums Up, Fanta and Sprite sport a maximum retail price of Rs 27, up from Rs 25 earlier. These packs are often sold as on-the-go consumption as they are bigger than the typical coke bottle, one orders in a restaurant but not as large as the 1.5 litre family packs.

“Soft drinks as a product are one of the most widely available and most competitively priced products in the country. However, due to rise in input costs, mainly commodity costs, our bottling partners have had to undertake marginal price increases on certain packs in some markets,” said Coca-Cola spokesperson.

In October this year, food inflation surged to 11.06 per cent from 9.23 per cent the previous month, government statistics show.

“Our strategy continues to be that of offering a range of products in different packs at varying price points, which is in keeping with our OBPPC (occasion, brand, price, pack, and channel) architecture. Providing consumers with choice and value continues to be the cornerstone of our business strategy,” added the company spokesperson in an email response.

Coke on Monday said it and its bottling partners would together invest about $2 billion (Rs 10,081 crore) over the next five years in a bid to stay ahead of its archrival Pepsi who has been an early mover in India. Coca-Cola said the investments would be used to enhance capacity, boost distribution, equipment purchases, and in consumer marketing and brand building.

PepsiCo, meanwhile, is turning to measures like reducing pack sizes and introducing very low priced items in order to keep sales volume counter ticking in India.

When contacted, PepsiCo India spokesperson said, “We will take a call on our pricing on any pack in line with our comprehensive strategy on pricing and keeping in mind the market dynamics. At the moment, we have no comments to make.”