No more Pepsi and Coke: Have the winds of change gripped Tamil Nadu?
- The Federation of Tamil Nadu Traders' Association has decided not to sell Pepsi and Coke from March 1
- The decision was taken after several groups asked for a ban on the two drinks during the Jallikattu protest
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It looks like even the Tamil origin of the PepsiCo company's chief Indra Nooyi is not going to stop Tamilians from their decision to boycott Pepsi and Coca-Cola in the state from March 1.
The spark of the boycott seems to have begun during the massive Jallikattu protests two months ago when all of Tamil Nadu united for a cause. Several other parties, with different agendas, appear to have come to the realisation that similar protests could be taken up for other issues as well, especially if they have a 'Tamil pride' angle to them.Â
After giving it a thought, the Federation of Tamil Nadu Traders' Association (known as Tamil Nadu Vanigar Sangangalin Peramaippu) has decided not to sell Pepsi and Coco-Cola in Tamil Nadu from March 1.Â
This association has 1.5 million retailers and 6,000 traders associations under its umbrella.
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The Association has also decided to give a boost to locally-manufactured soft drinks like the Bovonto brand of products of Kali Mark from Thoothukudi, Torino of Bangalore Soft Drinks Private Limited and RVN Drinks from Thanjavur.
The official reasons given for the boycott are many. They include the claim that Pepsi and Coca-Cola spoil the health of the 'youth', that the foreign companies over-exploit the water resources given to them and cause water shortages and also that since they are foreign companies, the money they earn goes out of the country.Â
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The decision in itself hopes to transform into yet another mass movement. If this gets state-wide support like Jallikattu, it will certainly be a blow to the two major companies.Â
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Over 75% of the total soft drinks market in Tamil Nadu is owned by the two multi-national companies manufacturing Pepsi and Coca-Cola, say sources. Speaking to Business Standard, Arvind Verma, Secretary General, Indian Beverage Association, said that at least 3,50,000 people were working in the plants producing Pepsi and Coca-Cola.
