Thai Cola Firms Wage the Battle of the Bottles

The local bottlers of Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola are accusing each other of hiding away each other’s empty bottles as part of tactics in their battle for the market in southern Thailand.

Pairoj Rattakul, chairman in the south for Haad Thip Co., the Coke bottler, accused his rivals Tuesday of trying to keep Coke off store shelves by stashing 1,000 cases of empty Coke bottles in their warehouse. He said his company messengers took photographs of the hoarding by Pepsi.

“Without bottle returns, we were increasingly unable to fill our orders and losing out to our competitors, who were using absurd and silly tactics to gain market share,” Pairoj said.

Chin Lammakanont, Bangkok-based marketing director of Serm Suk Co., the Pepsi bottler, denied the charge. Other Serm Suk officials accused Coca-Cola of stashing Pepsi bottles.

“That would be a useless, not to mention costly, thing for us to do,” Chin said. “We know of no such tactic nor do we approve of it.”

Both Coca-Cola and Pepsi claim to have 40% of the cola market nationwide.

Pairoj said Haad Thip also filed charges with police last week after one of its trucks was vandalized and Pepsi advertisements were found glued over Coke advertisements. Coke’s market in Chumphon fell by as much as 80% last year, he said.

Pairoj said Serm Suk employees bought the 1,000 cases of Coke bottles worth $19,231 from retailers and other bottle return depots.

He said that when he contacted Serm Suk about the bottles, he was told they would be returned only if Haad Thip returned Pepsi bottles. “We haven’t got a single one of their bottles,” Pairoj said.