Coca Cola's India Bottling Unit Lays Off 300 Employees Amid Sinking Profit

Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages (HCCB), the bottling arm of beverage giant Coca-Cola in India, is reportedly laying off around 300 employees to “stay competitive, efficient and agile”. The move comes amid falling profits and a recent leadership change.

According to The Economic Times (ET), HCCB is downsizing its workforce by about 4–6% across functions such as sales, supply chain, distribution and bottling operations at its plants.

The company has around 5,000 employees across 15 manufacturing plants, where it produces soft drinks such as Coca-Cola, Thums Up and Sprite, as well as Minute Maid juices.

A spokesperson for the company told the publication that the downsizing was “minor in scale and non-disruptive to operations”, adding that the company “periodically assesses business operations to stay competitive, efficient and agile”.

“Staying in sync with evolving business needs requires us to re-evaluate capabilities, structures, and take corrective actions where necessary,” the spokesperson said.

Sinking Bottom Line

The move, however, comes at a critical time for the company. As per its FY25 financials, HCCB’s revenue declined to ₹12,864 crore from ₹14,236 crore in FY24, a drop of 9%. At the same time, its profit plunged from ₹2,808 crore to just ₹756.7 crore, down 73%, according to data from Tracxn. During the period, the company’s EBITDA margin and net profit margin also declined to 15% and 6%, respectively.

The decline has been attributed to the company selling parts of its bottling operations to franchise partners as part of an “asset-light” strategy.

HCCB sold bottling operations in Rajasthan, Bihar, the North-East, and parts of West Bengal to three of its largest existing bottlers, Moon Beverages, Kandhari Global Beverages and SLMG Beverages. Coca-Cola sells concentrate to its bottling partners, who manufacture and distribute the beverages.

In September this year, HCCB replaced its CEO Juan Pablo Rodriguez with Hemant Rupani. Rupani earlier served as business unit president for Southeast Asia, overseeing operations in Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.