Coca-Cola partners with CARE India to provide food, other essentials to vulnerable groups amid COVID-19 crisis

Beverages major Coca-Cola on Wednesday said it has partnered with CARE India to provide food and other essentials to underprivileged and vulnerable groups as part of its commitment of Rs 100 crore towards various COVID-19 relief programmes in India.

Under the initiative, Coca-Cola and CARE India will provide dry-ration kits with curated food items to meet specific nutritional needs of various marginalised groups such as migrant workers, daily wage earners and people living with HIV/AIDS across various parts of the country, the company said in a statement.

The three-month-long programme starting June aims to benefit over 1.5 lakh people and will be rolled out across Delhi-NCR, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Bihar and West Bengal.

Commenting on the initiative, Coca-Cola India and South-West Asia Vice-President, Public Affairs, Communications & Sustainability Ishteyaque Amjad said, "We hope that our joint efforts help assuage the state of the most vulnerable people of our society and that through our collective efforts as a country, we will be able to steer ourselves out of these testing times."

CARE India CEO Manoj Gopalakrishna said the nationwide lockdown to fight COVID-19 has disproportionately affected the poorest and marginalised population in India.

"In these difficult times, we need to ensure that they have access to high-quality nutritious food to overcome the challenges posed by this pandemic and provide them with the necessary support. With the support of Coca-Cola, we hope to make a difference to the vulnerable and marginalised and hope they overcome these unprecedented circumstances," he added.