The Colas “Canned”
Once again Pesti er.. I meant Pepsi and Coke have been asked to can all their operations put it
in deep cold storage. This time it’s the union territory of Pondicherry. This follows the ever increasing list of State governments that are eager in banning carbonated soft drinks, beverages etc. This is hurting the Cola giants hard in the sub continent as this order seems to be spreading like a ripple effect.
I was on a visit to make a presentation at one of the premier Arts & Commerce institution in Coimbatore, a district in Tamilnadu. So during Lunch a bottle of sprite was served and I was surprised when I tasted homemade lemonade instead of ‘sprite’. On enquiring the cafeteria manger told me that they are no longer getting supply of Pepsi or Coke
products as the company themselves have stopped distribution and so he was using the bottle to serve lemonade. This was news to me as I found that this particular institution has not banned these beverages nor has the state government. This is indeed a sad state of affairs as far as trade and commerce was concerned when a company is withdrawing its product from the market from fear of retribution.
I am not crusading for the soft drinks giant here. I am sure health
concerns should be addressed to. But banning without decisive conclusions of Tests from a competent body and checking if the results conforms to the global standard, I feel is a little biased.
I think we ought to cut a little slack here. In this regard I would commend the West Bengal government; they have not banned these beverages until conclusive results are found. If health concerns ought to be taken in concern and pesticides & chemicals were to be basis of banning products then I believe a long list of products would disappear of the shelves. 80% of the food grains (Even genetically altered Fruits & Vegetables) are not cultivated and produced organically. I am sure you can find trace of pesticidal, chemical residue in all of them. Someone will have to remove all the tastemakers of circulation like ajin-no-moto because it harmful for young children. Hey! Someone forgetting about passive smoking. So what do we do with all the smokers and their cigarettes? Not to mention alcohol especially the chemical concoction that is brewed in many a distillery that is owned by the politically influential. Are these not consumed by the Teens of today? If the authorities think not then I would call it selective amnesia. Last but not the least all foods that have preservatives, what are you going to do with them. So let’s close all the food processing Industries, all the beverages Industries, Lets ban instant food, packaged water, Non-organically produced foods, Tobacco, Alchohol,Baby foods etc. what would be the outcome ‘ Healthy people! Maybe but a whole lot of them would be unemployed too.
To look back at what started it all and we come to the ‘Plachimada’ issue. Coke had a bottling plant in Plachimada a remote village in Palghat district of Kerala. Water was used by the plant from a nearby water body which was supposedly the drinking water source of that village. Coke was accused of siphoning water from the village. KERALA!!! Now what was coke thinking setting up shop there? I am sure coke got wooed by a tourism brochure that had lots of scenic shots of large masses of water bodies in the state. What they did not know was about the unstable political weather in the state.
The labor unions and the union leaders that ruled over the Industries. The constant strikes & lock outs that these guys carry out with clockwork precision. A state which is on holiday when it rains, when its Onam & Vishu( State Festivals), Every Sunday, Every week day at the whims & fancies of Unions ,Politicians in the form of strikes ,violence.
From here on it did not take much for vested interests to takethis issue to gigantic proportions, what with country’s health minister ;a personality who loves to be in thelimelight ( A genetic Trait) hanging on to this as if it was ‘Manna from the heavens’.
Today Pepsi or coke might withdraw its product from the Indian markets and this is setting a bad precedent as far as business is concerned in the times of ‘FDI’. True health concerns have to be addressed to but it should not be a direct assault without conclusive evidence for some little vested interests & gains. These people have been in business and quenching thirsts of billons all over the world and would have definite safety standards that are in line with the International standards. If they are in violation of these let them be penalized for the same but don’t cry ‘Wolf’ even before it’s proved concretely.
The Coke bottle, Levi’s and the Marlboro man were all the identity of an Era that spawned Today’s generation of go-getters. We loved our Coke then whether it was straight from the bottle or if it was laced with some rum. It was a time when choking oneself on grass & nicotine from all that tobacco, reading Ginsberg, drinking Rum & Coke a whole generation defined Freedom. Like the Hank Williams song ‘highwayman’ Ends “and I am living still”.