KOLKATA BECOMES FIRST CITY IN THE WORLD : GLOBAL MEALS EXPERIENCE PLATFORM “COKE IS COOKING” LAUNCHED BY THE COCA – COLA COMPANY, KICK STARTS IN INDIA

BY DEBAJYOTI CHAKRABORTY
KOLKATA, 29 SEPTEMBER 2022:

The Coca-Cola Company, the world’s leading beverage maker, today announced the launch of its first-ever global meals experience platform ‘Coke is Cooking’. The launch marks the beginning of a long-lasting asset, designed to celebrate and encourage the passion for food in each city across the globe. It is an extension of Coca-Cola’s global brand platform – Real Magic™ – which invites everyone to celebrate the real magic of togetherness.

The platform has first been launched in India, with Kolkata being the first city across the world to experience the magic of ‘Kolkata is Cooking’. The platform will further be scaled globally, and Coca-Cola aims to host ‘Coke is Cooking’ festivals in one city in the world every week of the year in 2024. With this launch, the Company aims to leverage consumers’ passion points of music and food, to connect and engage with them on a deeper level.

Coca-Cola India culminated its first ‘Is Cooking’ festival in Kolkata’s Eco Park on 24th  and 25th of September, which celebrated the culinary wonders that the city has to offer. The festival, called “Pet Pujo’r Pandal” also witnessed the presence of a sensational panel of musicians featuring Shreya Ghoshal, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Fossils, Anupam Roy, Arko Mukherjee, and Coke Studio Bangla artists, who serenaded audiences with their magical tunes as the city savored mouth-watering delicacies. Coke Studio is a quintessential platform known to elevate India’s diversity and culture by bringing together artists from varying backgrounds, and this is the first time the Coke Studio Bangla line-up performed internationally.

Speaking at the first-ever ‘Coke is Cooking’ event in Kolkata, India, Mr. Aabir Chatterjee, Manager, Marketing, Coke Meals, Coca-Cola India, said, “The ‘Is Cooking’ meals experience is an opportunity to celebrate the magic of eating together. This experience is for our consumers to enjoy delicious food over a chilled Coke & great company – that’s how we believe real magic happens everyday!”

Mr. Dipanjan Saha, Manager, Frontline Marketing, East CBO and East/Central/South FBO, Coca-Cola India, added, “The timing of the first-ever ‘Is Cooking’ event in Kolkata worked out beautifully for us, as it coincided with Pujo celebrations and Kolkata’s renowned love for food. And we saw this opportunity to bring this story to life through our Coke Pet Pujo’r Pandal.”

The festival was infused with a diverse inclusion of food stalls from iconic Kolkata-based restaurants including Mitra Café, Arsalan, 6 Ballygunge Place, Aminia, and over 40 more renowned names.

In the coming months, the ‘Is Cooking’ platform will be taken to cities across Vietnam, Africa, and beyond.

HIGHLIGHTS :

The new global platform has been designed to celebrate food and inspire social connections across the globe In 2024, the Company aims to host ‘Coke is Cooking’ festivals in one city in the world every week of the year

About The Coca-Cola Company :

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is a total beverage company with products sold in more than 200 countries and territories. Our company’s purpose is to refresh the world and make a difference. We sell multiple billion-dollar brands across several beverage categories worldwide. Our portfolio of sparkling soft drink brands includes Coca-Cola, Sprite and Fanta. Our hydration, sports, coffee and tea brands include Dasani, SmartWater, vitaminwater, Topo Chico, BODYARMOR, Powerade, Costa, Georgia, Gold Peak, Honest and Ayataka.

Our nutrition, juice, dairy and plant-based beverage brands include Minute Maid, Simply, innocent, Del Valle, fairlife and AdeS. We’re constantly transforming our portfolio, from reducing sugar in our drinks to bringing innovative new products to market. We seek to positively impact people’s lives, communities and the planet through water replenishment, packaging recycling, sustainable sourcing practices and carbon emissions reductions across our value chain. Together with our bottling partners, we employ more than 700,000 people, helping bring economic opportunity to local communities worldwide.