Thomas Oth: Coca-Cola chce dalej inwestować w Polsce

Indeed, my name is Thomas. I'm a general manager for the Coca-Cola company in Poland and Baltics for approximately one year and a half. Look so far, Poland has been treating me very well. My time has been intense, but also very rewarding, I need to say. Thanks to the team, we have delivered very strong results. For Coca-Cola in Europe, but also globally, Poland remains a very large market. Dzięki siłom naszej marki, naszej efektywnej strategii rozwoju, inwestowaniom oraz rozumieniu polskich konsumentów, mamy bardzo silną pozycję liderów w tym, co nazywamy sparkling soft drinks. Jestem bardzo zadowolony z tego, że jest to również zaznaczone zewnętrznie, ponieważ mamy taki rynk marki najwyższego, który wygrywa Coca-Cola jako najwyższą markę w FMCG przez kilkadziesiąt lat i wciąż w tym roku.

On a more personal note, it's been great for me to immerse myself in the Polish culture, to get to know this great country, the great traditions. Something that surprised me a bit was to see still today, in today's generation, still the impact of the history, which remains very present, I think, in some of the traditions, also in the culture, and I love history in general, so I've been very, very intrigued to see, you know, like how the history has shaped the country and the consumer still today. What was the biggest surprise? The biggest surprise was I think the power of these traditions that remain still today in Poland. We are approaching Christmas. Many colleagues have been talking to me about the Christmas meals, which are very famous in Poland.

This is not something that we know a lot in the other markets and I find it great to see these traditions being perpetuated in Poland. That was my biggest surprise I would say. The power of the traditions. Let's talk business. Poland is considered a fast-growing, significant market for Coca-Cola. I've seen it valued around 6.5 billion euro, if my numbers are correct. And Coca-Cola as a brand has been in Poland for over 50 years, right? So the history is important, as you already said. W jaki sposób Polska jest tak ważna w strategii globalnej Coca-Cola? Słuchaj, są różne rzeczy. Po pierwsze, jak wspomniałeś, Polska jest rozwiniętym markiem i jest to bardzo określony.

So, market size is one thing, right? But maybe consumer trends are another factor, something that make Poland stand out. Yes, definitely. You're right about that. The Polish consumers are... Widzimy pewne podobności z polskim konsumentem i konsumentem w Unii Europejskiej. Oczywiście, każda marka jest inna. Nie ma wątpliwości. Kiedy patrzymy na polskich konsumentów, to widzimy, że są wpływani na makrotrendy. Na przykład... Health and wellbeing is something that is appearing in Poland. Affordability is something that is also very present in Poland. Their appetite for innovation is also something that remains in Poland and that we observe in other markets.

What is more specific, I think, to the Polish consumers, I would like maybe to mention two things, is that we see that the Polish consumer, they still value a lot to have... Podcast Oth, Podcast Oth, Podcast Oth, What is unique for the Polish consumers is that they consume a lot of juices. For some historical reasons, for some cultural reasons, we see the juice consumptions very high in Poland. And at the same time we see the sparkling soft drinks quite lower compared to the European average, which is offering us a huge course of opportunities in the future.

Let's add some broader perspective, let's call it industry context. You've worked in other markets, Belgium, Luxembourg and Nordics, right? Correct. Before coming to Poland, so how does what you've seen in Poland so far compare? Niektóre rzeczy. Widzimy Polskę jako bardzo dynamiczną markę, rozwiniętej markę, która jest bardzo dobrym potencjałem dla tej krainy i tej ekonomii. Kolejna rzecz, która jest ważna do wspomnienia, jeśli chodzi o polskie marki i polską ekonomię, to dynamiczne środowisko retailowe. I one wpływają na pozytywny klimat dla FMCG i dla rynku retailowego w generalności.

Names mentioned inwestować w Polsce. These are big opportunities for us to surf on this trend of innovation. Next to that, when it comes to the challenge, we need to remain on our toes. That's for sure. If we want to remain successful, we need to be alert. We have built a strong leadership position over the last few years and my ambition is to continue to grow ahead of the category to strengthen this position. The biggest threats that I see today in the current context relates to the regulatory environment, I would say, and the taxation environment, which can be unpredictable sometimes and clear at other times.

And it's crucial for all companies operating in Poland to be able to do so in a context, in a regulatory context of stability, certainty and predictability. This is very important, I think, for Coca-Cola in Poland, but for all the biggest companies in Poland. Let's get back to investments. Coca-Cola has been investing heavily in Poland, in Polish operations. Could you walk me through those investments? What was done and why? What was the idea behind? Oczywiście, oczywiście. Jak już wspomniałem, jesteśmy ważnym aktorem lokalnym dla polskiej ekonomii, i w ten sposób kontynuujemy inwestowanie w nasze biznesy, w nasze operacje w Polsce, w naszych sprzedażach, w naszych branżach, a także zmniejszamy nasz kształt ekologiczny, co jest dla nas bardzo ważne.

The first one, over the last three years our bottling partner Coca-Cola HBC have invested 1.6 million euro for water efficiency projects. So these are technologies, tools that allow us to measure the water we are using to produce our drinks and also to minimize the use of water when producing our drinks. As a result we have been able to decrease the consumption of water to production by 10% since the last 10 years. The same is valid for energy projects. Our bottling partner has invested for this energy project so that we can reduce our carbon footprint and there as well we have seen a significant impact of energy consumption decreased by 11% over the last 10 years. So you know like these are typical investments that we are making

Coca-Cola's investments are not only heavy investments like this, those, let's call them hardware investments, right, and creating jobs, but also I call them soft investments and I mean skills for future program. It was launched in 2024. Already 10,000 users and 3,000 graduates. That's true, that's true. So maybe something you don't know, but that's very important for the Coca-Cola company is to refresh the world and to make a difference.

And I think the Skills for Future program is a great example of how we can make a difference locally. So you know like... Transkrypcja Magdalena Świerk-Gryboś Człowiek nie jest zadowolony, bo nie jest zdecydowany o tym, jaką karierę poszukać, jaka będzie jego życie wyglądać.

Yes, yes. You know like gastronomy and meals are important pieces of the strategy and as part of the new marketing strategy we are trying to create experiences. So Warsaw Cookout was an example when we've been inviting consumers to try Kolejny odcinek

During this Coca-Cola Warsaw cookout, I heard that you featured Michelin-starred chefs making dishes, right? That's correct. So we regrouped different Michelin chefs from different places in the world and each one of them was coming with one of their signature dishes that basically the Coca-Cola consumers could come and enjoy with an ice-cold Coca-Cola. Christmas is around the corner. I need to ask you about the Christmas. The Coca-Cola trucks are a holiday staple in Poland or across Europe or across the world, wherever Coca-Cola is popular.

But this is not the most important part. The most important part is the thing that beyond this iconic holiday caravan Coca-Cola partners each year with the Polish food banks, right? Of course, because you're right, now is that magical time of the year, right? Christmas is approaching and like it has been the case for many years, you will have the Christmas truck of Coca-Cola will start its journey through Poland. It will have seven stops. It will go to Opolę, Kielce, Krasnik, Radom, Poznań and Elk. I hope I'm pronouncing correctly. Ale masz rację. Masz rację, że poza tym doświadczeniem w Christmas Truck, chcieliśmy znowu zmienić lokalne społeczeństwa.

There's one more thing about this project, Marcel Pustul. Yes. And he is a designer. He designed sweatshirts, right? Limited series of sweatshirts. We have entered the partnership with Marcel Pustul because we see a good fit with the brand's positivism and optimism. And so this special, unique sweatshirt is actually symbolizing the idea of goodness and sharing, basically. I to również jest częścią kampanii na święta w tym roku. Muszę Cię zapytać o system depozytowania w Polsce. To jest całkiem nowe dla wszystkich z nas. To jest całkiem nowa idea w Polsce. Ale Ty byłeś bardzo proaktywny w tym zakresie.

Coca-Cola HBCP stworzyło koalicję na przedstawienie tego systemu w Polsce. Zastanawialiśmy się, jak złożyć operatora biznesowego COSIA.pl. To jest pierwsze. Kolejne jest to, że jako marka mamy bardzo duży rolę w edukacji konsumentów. Uważam, że jest ważne, aby jako główny gracz w tym sektorze... Wszelkie prawa zastrzeżone A deposit machine so that people can better understand how it will work and what are the benefits also for them but for the whole economy and environment because as a Coca-Cola company we are in strong favor of the introduction of such deposit system because we want to have to solve the world packaging waste challenge that we are facing today and we want to lead the way.

And we can see a clear trend towards health and wellness and so on. So soft drink consumers today are very wary of sugar, right? There is this increasing trend to drink and eat products that has very low sugar or no sugar at all. I saw a statistic, 40% of Coca-Cola's products in Europe now low or zero calories, right? And nearly two thirds of all your beverages, again if I have my numbers right,

Co robimy każdego dnia, to oferujemy świetne, smakujące drzwi, które dopasują do życia konsumentów. This is also where we are focusing our marketing efforts on these low and low calorie versions. Today in the portfolio in Poland we have more than 12 products that have low or no calories and in whatever we do we always align with the recommendation of leading health authorities like the World Health Organization. So that free sugars should not exceed more than 10% of your daily total energy intake. And this is also why we are reshaping our portfolio today. You were correct. Today 45% of our portfolio in Europe consists of these low or no sugar products.

And it's constantly increasing. So this is a trend that we observe in Poland, but also in the other markets. We are a leading member of the European Organization of Soft Drinks Manufacturers, which is called UNESDA. And as an industry in Europe, we have significantly reduced the sugar across the category. It went down by 12% between 2000 and 2015. And since 2015 and 2020, it went down by an additional almost 15%. So there is a clear trend there and I'm proud that we are contributing to that trend. But Poland and more broadly Europe is not an exception on the map of the world, right? You're right, you're right.

And basically there is no global evidence that reducing the consumption of soft drinks, non-alcoholic drinks in general, leads to weight loss because To, co się dzieje w Polsce, to to, co się dzieje w Polsce. Names mentioned inwestować w Polsce

Podcast Oth Oth Oth Do not get me wrong. We plan to continue to invest in our business in Poland, our employees, the communities. And as I said, we continuously invest in innovations for low and low calories variant for our drinks. This is part of our strategy. But to make this possible, there is one thing we need. And this thing we need is stability, certainty and predictability in policy. Otherwise we cannot operate in a stable way in Poland.

And we also need what I call the level playing field, right? So that all companies are treated in the same way. Coca-Cola, but also any other company that wants to invest in Poland. And at this stage I am convinced that the proposed tax increases announced at a very short notice do not provide any of these elements of stability, predictability, certainty. For businesses like ours and like all the companies operating in the segments, similar changes require not only careful consideration, but also at least 12 months vacation legis period from the date of publication to the implementation of the measure. I think that's very important for us to know.

For a personal touch, anything that comes next excites you? Yes, that's for sure. I cannot disclose it yet, but in a few weeks we are going to disclose an exceptional partnership for our brands in 2026. That makes me very, very excited. For a closure. I hope optimistic closure. How would you summarize Coca-Cola's approach to the Polish market in one sentence? Look, I think Poland is one of most important markets. We want to grow here, we want to invest here and be close to the local communities we are becoming part of. That's the first thing.

I think our approach is to continue to invest in infrastructure, production technology and to expand our product portfolio in Poland so that we can continue to meet the consumer preferences here. Thank you, Thomas. Thank you. Thank you for having me. To był podcast Forbes. Słuchaj nowych odcinków w aplikacji Onet Audio i na Forbes.pl. Płatna współpraca z marką Coca-Cola.