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<keyword id="115414" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Ramesh-Chauhan">Ramesh Chauhan</keyword>, the father of the <keyword id="3244161" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Indian-soft-drink-industry">Indian soft drink industry</keyword> and founder of India's largest packaged water brand <keyword id="115415" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Bisleri">Bisleri</keyword>, is planning a comeback with a new range of <keyword id="158884" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="fizzy-drinks">fizzy drinks</keyword>, twenty-two years after selling the country's most loved soft drink brands <keyword id="109079" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="Thums-up">Thums Up</keyword>, Limca, Citra and Gold Spot to US beverage giant Coca-Cola. 
 
Chauhan's strategy is simple - take on MNCs such as Coca-Cola and PepsiCo in the Rs 14,000-crore domestic beverage industry. "The four new flavours that are being test-marketed are Pina Colada, Fonzo (a fruity flavour), Spicy Cola and Limmonata (a lemony drink)," said Chauhan. "These are being manufactured at five locations around the country." 
 
The products may be launched as early as next month, said people familiar with the matter. The soft drinks are being priced at around Rs 15 for 300ml PET bottles and Rs 10 for 200ml PET bottles. "Later, we will introduce cans," said Chauhan, who sold his earlier brands to Coca-Cola for around $40 million in 1993. At the time, these brands together commanded around 60% market share in the industry. Last year, Bisleri launched a natural energy drink Urzza to compete with foreign brands such as Red Bull. 
 After buying them, Coca-Cola killed Citra and Gold Spot to make way for its own brands Sprite and <keyword id="6810070" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Fanta">Fanta</keyword>. Thums Up, which was introduced in 1977 by Chauhan and considered by many to be a 'manly' drink, is one of the top-selling carbonated beverages in the country at present. 
 
"The two top beverage makers in the country, PepsiCo and Coke, are in the pincer grip of local soft drink makers, who have cornered around 10-15% of the market with lower priced products in PET bottles. Chauhan is the right man to enter the market at this time," said a senior executive of a large beverage firm. "In the North, which is a big market for cola makers due to an extended summer, consumers prefer PET bottles." 
 
PepsiCo and Coca-Cola are planning smaller packs at lower prices this summer to counter regional players, including Jayanti Beverages of Alwar, Shri Brahm Shakti Prince Beverages of Delhi and Gujarat's Hajoori &amp; Sons, who have flooded the market with lookalikes of the MNCs' products. 
 
Image credit: Indiatimes

Ramesh Chauhan, the father of Indian soft drink industry is all set to launch new range of fizzy drinks!

Beverage major Coca-Cola is going to have its highest-ever spending on brands in the second half of 2023 in India, when the ICC Men's <keyword id="3859" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="cricket-world-cup" source="Orion">Cricket World Cup</keyword> is coinciding with the festive season, which is expected to boost the consumption, a top company official said on Friday. Though the company has not shared the quantum of spending but said it is a "big part of overall <keyword id="6355120" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="investment" source="Orion">investment</keyword>" that they are going to make during the ICC World Cup, which provides "a very big platform" for their business expansion, Coca-Cola India and South-West Asia Vice President, Marketing Arnab Roy, said. Coca-Cola, which had a "challenging summer" this year due to unseasonal rains, expects people will spend money across categories during the festive season despite challenging macro conditions, and affordable packages would do well. When asked if Coca-Cola can make up for a slower second quarter, Roy said: "Probably based on the trends we are seeing both in Q3 and the beginning of Q4, we feel very positive and encouraged, with the way we hopefully end this year." <keyword id="49792" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="festival-season" source="Orion">Festival season</keyword> has already begun in some parts of the country, where Coca-Cola has started off brand activation. Coca-Cola is also doing the same in neighbouring markets such as Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka during the ICC Cricket World Cup, he said. "This is going to result in one of the largest investments we have ever done in Q3 and Q4 combined, in the history of our company in India," Roy said at a virtual media round table. The investment would be from Coca-Cola and its bottling arm Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages, he added. When asked about the investments, Roy said: "<keyword id="389052" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ad-spends" source="Orion">Ad spends</keyword> in the December quarter as a percentage of overall spending are 5-7 per cent higher compared to a year ago." Coca-Cola India's Advertising promotional expenses were at Rs 737.97 crore in FY22, according to the financial data accessed by the business intelligence platform Tofler. Coca-Cola, which is the exclusive non-alcoholic beverage partner of the ICC until 2023, has activated its brand Thums Up along with Limca Sportz, the hydration drink from Coca-Cola India's home-grown brand Limca, as the event is in India, he added. It is also adding Sprite, a lime-flavoured beverage, the second brand in India to breach the USD 1 billion mark in annual sales. "The ICC World Cup is in India, which is the largest sporting event in the country after almost 11-12 years. So it is very big for us... to activate our brands, our entire system and obviously ensure that we are able to leverage this big platform to continue the business momentum," Roy said. According to Roy, this is not only for "classic brand marketing investments but also the investments on shopper marketing, trade marketing, working with our customers, working with retailers or distributors. So the whole ecosystem it was important for us to activate" taking over all DME (Direct Marketing Expense) higher. It is a combined effort between two brands as "Thums Up is leading all the work in ICC World Cup and brand Coca-Cola... around the festivals" with a regional approach. Coca-Cola faced a "challenging summer" this year due to early rains but Roy said, "long-term metrics are looking very strong, therefore it was very important for us to continue investing in the business ...in our brands, so that we do not lose the momentum." Regarding the benefits, Roy said typically in the second half of a year, you do not have business expansion. But "with the ICC World Cup, especially as you go to small town and rural India, whether you can start increasing your numeric distribution from what you have had in the past, in this particular period." On the demands, Coca-Cola sees it to be "very robust" across both urban and rural. The company is optimising its demand through affordable packs, giving a quantitative push. Coca-Cola is expanding its returnable glass bottle business across parts of India, which is important to hold and ensure the market at Rs 10 and 20 price points. "We would have to optimise everything in our supply chain and work on pack mix so that your overall profitability is not going down. So Rs 10 and Rs 20 ...will continue to be important in the year 2024," he said. Besides, Coca-Cola is also a lead sponsor of Disney Star which has exclusive broadcast and media rights for linear and digital platforms of ICC Men's Cricket World Cup. It has signed for both linear and digital streaming for OTT platform Disney+ Hotstar.

Coca-Cola India's spending on brands to be highest in H2

Kolkata, Mar 4 () Beverage major Coca-Cola onWednesday announced its partnership with Kolkata Knight Riders(KKR) for the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League(IPL) beginning later this month.Coca-Cola will be the official beverage partner withKolkata Knight Riders (KKR), an official of the beverage MNCsaid.A host of activities are planned both in stadiums, aswell as across West Bengal to engage consumers, the companysaid.The company also kicked off Bengali packaging labelsfor all beverages across its portfolio, which includes Coke,Sprite, Thums Up, Maaza, Fanta, Limca, Kinley, and MinuteMaid. BSMNN NN

Coca-Cola partners with KKR for upcoming IPL

New Delhi, Mar 19 () Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages (HCCB) on Thursday said it has launched three programmes for its employees -- maternity support, Back to Work, and Women's Network. Christina Ruggiero, chief executive officer of HCCB, said that each of the initiatives is aimed at making everyone at the workplace feel respected and included. "The maternity programme is aimed at providing all necessary support including medical advice and counselling to both men and women employees," the company said in a statement. It said the programme provides for planned interventions by experts, managing pre- and post-delivery changes and back-to-work preparation, allowing them to seamlessly join the work back. It added that the 'Back to Work Programme' is designed to help women on a career break make a gradual transition back into the corporate workspace. The company, it said, also plans to provide a six-month internship to these women to help them acquire necessary skill sets and regain their confidence before they are inducted into the workforce. The Women's Network programme is created as a platform for all working women to come together and help each other in all matters, both personal as well as professional, it added. HCCB is a leading fast-moving consumer goods firm. It manufactures, packages and sells beverages brands, including Minute Maid, Maaza, Kinley, Thums Up, Sprite, Coca-Cola, Limca, and Fanta. It has a network of 3,900 distributors and over 2.5 million retail outlets operating in 25 states. RR HRS

Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages launches initiatives for employees

Mumbai, Jan 20 () Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages on Monday appointed Melvin Tan as its new chief financial officer, who will also be part of its senior leadership team reporting to chief executive Christina Ruggiero.
 Tan, a graduate from the University of Sheffield in England, with an honours degree in accounting and financial management, joined the Coca-Cola system in 2010 after spending a decade with KPMG and Honeywell.
 He was the financial controller of Coca-Cola's bottling investment group in Singapore and Malaysia wherein he was instrumental in the scaling up and growth of greenfield operation in Malaysia, implementation of various strategic restructuring initiatives and establishment of robust financial support and governance system to support the growth agenda of the business. 
 Announcing the appointment, Ruggiero said, Tan brings in the best practices of the global Coca-Cola system, along with his strong background in accounting and financial management.
 As one of largest FMCG companies in the country, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages manufactures/bottles and sells, some of the leading beverages like Minute Maid, Maaza, SmartWater, Kinley, Thums Up, Sprite, Coca-Cola, Limca, Fanta and Georgia, among others.
 It controls a network of 3,900 distributors, 2,50,000 farmers, 7,000 suppliers and over 2.5 million retail outlets across 493 districts in 25 states. Its 18 factories manufacture 60 products in nine different categories. BEN ANS
ANS

Hindustan Coca-Cola appoints Melvin Tan as CFO

<ul><li>China ranks as the third-largest market in the world in terms of unit case volume. </li><li>Coca-Cola India reached the milestone of 1 billion Unit Case.</li><li>India being one of the strategic markets for The Coca-Cola Company, continues to make a strong contribution to TCCC global results, presenting opportunity and growth potential. </li><li>Coca-Cola plans to take homegrown brands like <keyword id="109079" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="Thums-up">Thums Up</keyword> and <keyword id="384195" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="mazaa">Mazaa</keyword> globally in other markets. </li></ul>Coca-Cola India has progressed into the new decade by becoming the fifth largest market by volume for The Coca-Cola Company. Coca-Cola India achieved this feat on the back of an impressive 1-billion-unit case sale in 2019. Contributing to the ‘solid growth’, India presents a promising opportunity to become one of the top three markets for the company soon. Coca-Cola in India is transforming into becoming a ‘Total Beverage Company with strong local roots.’ For the last two years, the portfolio of beverage offerings has expanded in a segmented manner. The company has acutely focused on listening to the consumers and offering beverages to match their evolving preferences and going hyper-local. India being one of the strategic markets for The Coca-Cola Company, continues to make a strong contribution to TCCC global results, presenting opportunity and growth potential. Coca-Cola India has also optimized manufacturing and distribution networks to find the best ways to regionalize its business and create more opportunities for its local bottling partners. During his last visit, James Quincey, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Coca-Cola Company had set the goal for Coca-Cola India to become the fifth largest market for the company with aim to be amongst the top three markets in future. Robust country performance The Coca-Cola Company has made strong value share gains with contribution from both sparkling and non-sparkling offerings. On its way to become the third largest market within the system, Coca-Cola India will continue to accelerate its evolution by offering choice to its consumers. As a part of company’s refreshed approach, Coca-Cola India will continue to grow its core brands by rolling out new variants across Thums Up, Limca, Fanta, Sprite and Maaza, including no-sugar extension; at the same time diversifying its portfolio by entering new beverage categories like enhanced hydration, nutritious dilutables and beverage-plus at affordable price point The company also has robust plans to market marquee Coca-Cola India homegrown brands like Thums Up and Mazaa globally in other markets. Doing Business Responsibly The company has identified and launched significant global and local initiatives as a part of this endeavour to be a true enabling partner in the growth of all its stakeholders. Global initiatives like ‘World Without Waste’ where by 2030, for every bottle or can sold globally, the company aims to help to take one back, so it has more than one life—a one-for-one collection and recycling system. The India chapter of ‘World Without Waste’ initiative is aligned to the Government of India's Swachh Bharat (Clean India) Mission, where the company’s bottling partner, Hindustan <keyword id="6369745" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="coca-cola">Coca Cola</keyword> Beverages Private Limited (HCCBPL) in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) launched Project Prithvi which is operational in 28 cities across India and plans to roll out in 50+ cities across India by 2020.

India is the 5th largest market for Coca-Cola globally

Working at <keyword id="6391475" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Coca-Cola">Coca-Cola</keyword> is a dream for every B-school student, and this dream turned true for <keyword id="3533026" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="anish-barjatya">Anish Barjatya</keyword> – a second year PGPM student specializing in Marketing at MDI, one of the best B-schools in the country. 
 
Sailing through a tough selection criterion, he became one of the 21 students from India’s top 8 B-Schools to bag an internship offer with one of the biggest and the most recognizable brands in the world. In short, he had nailed it! 
 
Here’s Anish recounting what he calls “The Best Time Of His Life” - "Most students my age have grown up sipping on a Coke, Thumbs Up, Sprite, Fanta, Limca or Maaza and simply loved savoring these enticing drinks that have been household names in India for decades. Coke’s TVCs “Thanda Matlab Coca-Cola”, “Open Happiness”, “Taste The Feeling” have struck a chord with millions, and every person in this country has been touched by this Beverages Major in some way or the other. I was soon going to be on the other side to see how they make it happen." 
 
-So, here’s a little about how my first week went by 
We entered the Coke Office, was greeted with some spectacular goodies from where we walked towards a lounge - especially for interns. There were personalized wall pictures of every intern and welcome messages hanging for us throughout the office. Wow, could the start be more welcoming? 
 
It was induction time for us that went on for over a full week. We were made to visit bottling plants, attend ‘Support My School’ – a CSR Initiative and carry out several market visits. But what helped us more was the numerous sessions we had with some of Coke’s Senior Managers, Vice Presidents and the CEO himself - Venkatesh Kini during our journey. All this was intercepted by lot of fun activities, banter and informal interaction with the employees at Coke. Every conversation added to our learning experience here. 
 
-The Work Culture simply made it a great journey 
It was absolutely great to see how Coke sees no difference between an intern and an employee, and that for me was the biggest differentiator with other companies. Everyone here wanted us to get the most out of the ‘MANTRA internship program’ that we were a part of. No wonder then, this company probably has the best mix of culture, people and opportunities in the FMCG industry. We learnt a rather surprising fact - Coca-Cola in India has only about 200 employees owing to the unique franchise-led bottling model. This model lets every employee in the company be a leader in his/her own right and take responsibility from the time they start out as a Coke employee. Therefore, you grow quickly and evolve both personally and professionally. 
 
-Opportunities Galore 
All interns at Coke are given live projects; of course they are highly critical to the company’s business and of high value. For me, working in an FMCG company this size, in a Marketing/Operations project, gave me a 360 degree perspective of how consumer companies and businesses operate. Let me explain you how –: 
 
My market visits with none other than the Vice-President of Franchise Operations - Mr. <keyword id="3533024" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="bhupendra-suri">Bhupendra Suri</keyword> was a great experience, and interacting with him made me understand that one must continuously learn in corporate no matter at whichever stage in your career you may be. Learning is always in the Market. 
 
When I pitched my project ideas to the Bottling Franchise CEO in my project location market to get approvals for doing a pilot study, it was great exposure and I found it really exciting to show the benefits of my project ideas to the franchise on Coke's behalf. Such freedom and ownership is just spectacular! 
 
When I could work with a Marketing agency to create my own sets of Point of Sale Merchandize to execute in the market and check consumer behavior aspects for my project - Seeing your ideas come to life is again truly spectacular feeling! 
 
Cross - Functional Projects: Working on the project, you have to interact with multiple stakeholders within Coca-Cola and outside. My project allowed me to interact with managers of various other functions in Coke, and outside 3rd parties for planning and execution. This results in immense learning in all areas of business. 
 
Leadership Opportunities: For the execution of my pilot project, I coordinated with no less than 50 front line sales people to coordinate the marketing execution of my project. I could also take the initiative and get approvals to hire and train upto 20 surveyors for my Consumer Behaviour Study. 
 
Choice of Food, Conveyance, and Hotels: Coke leaves no stone unturned to ensure than interns get the best of everything while doing their projects. I could live in some of the best hotels, eat at some of the finest restaurants and take conveyance of flights, taxis etc as I deemed fit. No questions asked! Just get your reimbursements on time. 
 
When I was guided by my mentor Mr. <keyword id="3533025" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="ravinder-bhatia">Ravinder Bhatia</keyword>, Director, it was an honor to learn from him. He always had time for me and my project, and was keen to discuss all possible ideas and weigh the pros and cons. He also pushed me to my limits and I started thinking bigger and breaking down all the perceived challenges to make it easy for myself. I will forever look upto him. 
 
At my age, to be given the amount of freedom, ownership and authority on the project I was a part of was simply too good to be true! Moreover, imagine the amount of time, money the company invested in me and the effort my guides and other stakeholders involved in the project put to show me the right way of going about things – it’s something which is extremely hard, let’s say almost impossible, to get during a 2-month MBA internship in any Indian company. Also, where else do you see project presentations by interns handling top projects getting evaluated by the CEO of the company and the Leadership Council. Yes, it happens here! 
 
- I have saved the best for the last – THE FUN PART Coke is full of colour and zest. Friday Funda is one of the ways it pampers its employees. Every Friday, employees get free Coke products to take home and enjoy with their friends and family. Thanks to the awesome HR Team, I also had the chance to get Free VIP IPL Tickets, Meet Star Cricketers of Gujarat Lions and Kings XI Punjab, meet Celebrities, Attend Coke Studio, take part in Social Media Contests and relish Coke products while in office, as much as I wanted. This is not the end. In the last week, all the interns gathered together in the office from their respective project locations. It was PARTY TIME. All interns got their Personal Audio Visual shoots done by none other than <keyword id="131262" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Leo-Burnett">Leo Burnett</keyword>! 
 
If I had it sum it all up, I’d say for me, Coke is the best company to intern with, a company with high degree of intrapreneurship and professionalism combined with lots of fun and energy. These two months were simply the best two months of my life.

An MDI student who interned with Coca-Cola tells why those two months were 'The Most Precious' and 'The Best Time of His Life'

<div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image">Aniruddh Chaturvedi</div></div> 
Aniruddh Chaturvedi came from Mumbai to Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Penn., where he is majoring in computer science. This past summer he interned at a tech company in <keyword id="6357722" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="silicon-valley">Silicon Valley</keyword>.
During two years in the U.S., Chaturvedi has been surprised by various aspects of society, as he explained last year in a <a href="https://www.quora.com/How-Americans-Are-Different/What-facts-about-the-United-States-do-foreigners-not-believe-until-they-come-to-America/answer/Aniruddh-Chaturvedi">post on Quora</a>.
Chaturvedi offered his latest thoughts on <keyword id="20819" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="America">America</keyword> in an email to Business Insider.
The most surprising things about America: 
<ul>
<li>Nobody talks about grades here. </li>
<li>Everyone is highly private about their accomplishments and failures. Someone's performance in any field is their performance alone. This is different compared to <keyword id="3658" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="India">India</keyword> where people flaunt their riches and share their accomplishments with everybody else.</li>
<li>The retail experience is nowhere near as fun/nice as it is in India. Because labor is cheap in India, there is always someone who will act as a "personal shopper" to assist you with holding your clothes, giving suggestions, etc. In America, on the other hand, even if you go to a Nordstrom or Bloomingdales, there is almost nobody to help you out while you're shopping. Shopping in America is more of a commodity / chore than it is a pleasurable activity </li>
<li>This may be biased/wrong because I was an intern, but at least in the tech world, nobody wants to put you under the bus for something that you didn't do correctly or didn't understand how to do. People will sit with you patiently till you get it. If you aren't able to finish something within the stipulated deadline, a person on your team would graciously offer to take it off your plate.</li>
<li>The same applies to school. Before I came to the United States, I heard stories about how students at Johns Hopkins were so competitive with each other that they used to tear important pages from books in the library just so other students didn't have access to it. In reality, I experienced the complete opposite. Students were highly collaborative, formed study groups, and studied / did assignments till everyone in the group "got it". I think the reason for this is that the classes are / material is so hard that it makes sense to work collaboratively to the point that students learn from each other. </li>
<li>Strong ethics - everyone has a lot of integrity. If someone cannot submit their completed assignment in time, they will turn in the assignment incomplete rather than asking for answers at the last minute. People take pride in their hard work and usually do not cheat. This is different from students from India and China as well as back home in India, where everyone collaborates to the extent that it can be categorized as cheating.</li>
<li>Rich people are thin/ well maintained, poor people are fat. This stems from the fact that cheap food is fatty, rich people don't eat cheap food - they tend to eat either home-cooked food which is expensive or eat at expensive / healthy places. Unfortunately, it is expensive to be healthy in America.</li>
<li>Fat people are not respected much in society. Being fat often has the same connotations as being irresponsible towards your body. If you're thin (and tall, but not as much), people will respect you a lot more and treat you better. You will also receive better customer service if you're well maintained. This extends my previous point which mentioned that if you're thin, you're statistically likely to be rich. Reason why I know this is that I went down from being 210lbs to 148-150lbs. The way people started treating me when I was thin was generally way better than the way I was treated when I was fat. As a small example, the Starbucks baristas were much nicer to me and made me drinks with more care / love. </li>
<li>Girls are not very promiscuous, contrary to most Hollywood films</li>
<li>Almost every single person in America has access to basic food, clothing, water and sanitation. I haven't been to states like Louisiana and cities like Detroit, but from what I can tell, nobody is scrambling for the basic necessities required for sustenance. </li>
<li>Dearth of African Americans in technical fields. This probably stems from the fact that they aren't given enough opportunity, broken families, etc. I'm pretty sure you can extend upon this if you'd like.</li>
<li>It's expensive to have brick houses in America, contrary to India where brick houses are the norm</li>
<li>Emphasis on physical fitness / being outdoorsy - this is more of a California thing but I noticed families going on biking trips, boat trips, hiking, camping, barbecuing, etc. Americans take pride in the natural beauty of their surroundings and tend to make the most of it</li>
<li>Americans waste a lot of food. It is very easy to buy in bulk because it's so much cheaper and as a result a lot of wastage occurs. </li>
<li>Obsession with coffee - Starbucks, Dunkin' etc is crowded with office-goers and students every morning. I don't understand why they can't drink or make coffee before leaving for work. Such a waste of money! ($5/day * 5days / week * 52weeks/year)!</li>
<li>Split families, not having married parents, etc is not seen differently than the contrary. </li>
<li>Support towards the LGBT community - it's fairly normal to be part of the LGBT community; it's not considered a mortal sin if you like someone in your own gender or if you aren't comfortable being male/female/etc. Proof of this is the LGBT Pride Day held in every city etc. </li>
<li>Smoking weed is seen the same as smoking cigarettes. </li>
</ul>
And here are some more things he found surprising about America, <a href="https://www.quora.com/How-Americans-Are-Different/What-facts-about-the-United-States-do-foreigners-not-believe-until-they-come-to-America/answer/Aniruddh-Chaturvedi">excerpted from his post last summer on Quora</a> :
The way that stores price their products makes no apparent economic sense, and is not linear at all.
For example, at a typical store: - 1 can of coke : $1.00 - 12 cans of coke : $3.00 - 1 Häagen-Dazs ice cream bar : $3.00 - 12 Häagen-Dazs ice cream bars : $7.00
The return policy on almost everything: None of my friends back in India believed me when I told them that you can literally buy anything, including food, and return it within ninety days for a full refund even if you don't have a specific reason for doing so (most stores actually have a "Buyer's Remorse" category under Reason for Return options while returning the product).
The pervasiveness of fast food and the sheer variety of products available: The typical supermarket has at least a hundred varieties of frozen pizza, 50 brands of trail mix, etc. I was just astounded by the different kinds of products available even at small gas station convenience stores. 
Soda being cheaper than bottled water: It makes no sense that carbonated and flavored water with HFCS are cheaper than regular water, but hey, that's just how it is.
The fact that there are full service rest stops with decent chain restaurants and big supermarkets every couple of miles on interstate highways 
Fruit and vegetable prices, as compared to fast food prices:
- Bag of grapes : $6.00 - Box of strawberries : $5.00 - 1 lb tomatoes : $3.00 - McChicken : $1.00 - [McDouble] : $1.00
Unlimited soda refills:
The first time (and one of the last times...) I visited McDonalds in 2007, the cashier gave me an empty cup when I ordered soda. The concept of virtually unlimited soda refills was alien to me, and I thought there was a catch to it, but apparently not. Slightly digressing, I've noticed that the typical fountain machine has a huge selection, including Pepsi, Pepsi Max, Sprite, Sprite Zero, Hi-C, Powerade, Lemonade, Raspberry Lemonade (and/or their coca-cola counterparts)... The list goes on. This may not seem like much, but it is actually a lot more compared to the 3-4 options (coca-cola, sprite, fanta, limca) that most Indian soda fountain machines have. 
Serving Sizes: American serving sizes are HUGE! I've noticed that entree sizes are huge as well. I am by no means a small eater, but it usually takes me at least 1.5 meals to finish the entree. 
US Flag displayed everywhere: I was surprised to see that the US flag is displayed in schools, on rooftops of houses, etc. India has very strict rules governing the display and use of the national flag. Also, something that struck out to me was how it was completely normal to wear the US flag or a US flag-like pattern as a bikini. 
Over-commercialization of festivals: I'm not denying that festivals like Diwali and Eid aren't extremely commercialized in India, but America takes it to a whole new level. Black Friday, Cyber Monday, etc., and an almost year-round sale of Christmas, Halloween, Easter, etc. items.
An almost-classless society: I've noticed that most Americans roughly have the same standard of living. Everybody has access to ample food, everybody shops at the same supermarkets, malls, stores, etc. I've seen plumbers, construction workers and janitors driving their own sedans, which was quite difficult for me to digest at first since I came from a country where construction workers and plumbers lived hand to mouth. 
Also, (almost) all sections of society are roughly equal. You'll see service professionals owning iPhones, etc. as well. This may be wrong but part of it has to do with the fact that obtaining credit in this country is extremely easy. Anybody can buy anything, for the most part, except for something like a Maserati, obviously. As a result, most monetary possessions aren't really status symbols. I believe that the only status symbol in America is your job, and possibly your educational qualifications.
Chaturvedi ended his post with a link to a video of "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhnUgAaea4M#action=share">America F--- Yeah</a>" from the movie "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Team-America-Unrated-Widescreen-Collectors/dp/B0007Y08IS">Team America</a>."

The Most Surprising Things About America, According To An Indian International Student

<div class="image-container float_right"><div class="image">Aniruddh Chaturvedi</div></div>Aniruddh Chaturvedi came from Mumbai to Carnegie Melon University in Pittsburgh, Penn., where he is majoring in computer science. This past summer he interned at a tech company in <keyword id="6357722" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="silicon-valley">Silicon Valley</keyword>.
During two years in the U.S., Chaturvedi has been surprised by various aspects of society, as he explained last year in a <a href="https://www.quora.com/How-Americans-Are-Different/What-facts-about-the-United-States-do-foreigners-not-believe-until-they-come-to-America/answer/Aniruddh-Chaturvedi">post on Quora</a>.
Chaturvedi offered his latest thoughts on <keyword id="20819" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="America">America</keyword> in an email to Business Insider.
The most surprising things about America:
<ul>
<li>Nobody talks about grades here. </li>
<li>Everyone is highly private about their accomplishments and failures. Someone's performance in any field is their performance alone. This is different compared to <keyword id="3658" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="India">India</keyword> where people flaunt their riches and share their accomplishments with everybody else.</li>
<li>The retail experience is nowhere near as fun/nice as it is in India. Because labor is cheap in India, there is always someone who will act as a "personal shopper" to assist you with holding your clothes, giving suggestions, etc. In America, on the other hand, even if you go to a Nordstrom or Bloomingdales, there is almost nobody to help you out while you're shopping. Shopping in America is more of a commodity / chore than it is a pleasurable activity </li>
<li>This may be biased/wrong because I was an intern, but at least in the tech world, nobody wants to put you under the bus for something that you didn't do correctly or didn't understand how to do. People will sit with you patiently till you get it. If you aren't able to finish something within the stipulated deadline, a person on your team would graciously offer to take it off your plate.</li>
<li>The same applies to school. Before I came to the United States, I heard stories about how students at Johns Hopkins were so competitive with each other that they used to tear important pages from books in the library just so other students didn't have access to it. In reality, I experienced the complete opposite. Students were highly collaborative, formed study groups, and studied / did assignments till everyone in the group "got it". I think the reason for this is that the classes are / material is so hard that it makes sense to work collaboratively to the point that students learn from each other. </li>
<li>Strong ethics — everyone has a lot of integrity. If someone cannot submit their completed assignment in time, they will turn in the assignment incomplete rather than asking for answers at the last minute. People take pride in their hard work and usually do not cheat. This is different from students from India and China as well as back home in India, where everyone collaborates to the extent that it can be categorized as cheating.</li>
<li>Rich people are thin/ well maintained, poor people are fat. This stems from the fact that cheap food is fatty, rich people don't eat cheap food — they tend to eat either home-cooked food which is expensive or eat at expensive / healthy places. Unfortunately, it is expensive to be healthy in America.</li>
<li>Fat people are not respected much in society. Being fat often has the same connotations as being irresponsible towards your body. If you're thin (and tall, but not as much), people will respect you a lot more and treat you better. You will also receive better customer service if you're well maintained. This extends my previous point which mentioned that if you're thin, you're statistically likely to be rich. Reason why I know this is that I went down from being 210lbs to 148-150lbs. The way people started treating me when I was thin was generally way better than the way I was treated when I was fat. As a small example, the Starbucks baristas were much nicer to me and made me drinks with more care / love. </li>
<li>Girls are not very promiscuous, contrary to most Hollywood films</li>
<li>Almost every single person in America has access to basic food, clothing, water and sanitation. I haven't been to states like Louisiana and cities like Detroit, but from what I can tell, nobody is scrambling for the basic necessities required for sustenance. </li>
<li>Dearth of African Americans in technical fields. This probably stems from the fact that they aren't given enough opportunity, broken families, etc. I'm pretty sure you can extend upon this if you'd like.</li>
<li>It's expensive to have brick houses in America, contrary to India where brick houses are the norm</li>
<li>Emphasis on physical fitness / being outdoorsy — this is more of a California thing but I noticed families going on biking trips, boat trips, hiking, camping, barbecuing, etc. Americans take pride in the natural beauty of their surroundings and tend to make the most of it</li>
<li>Americans waste a lot of food. It is very easy to buy in bulk because it's so much cheaper and as a result a lot of wastage occurs. </li>
<li>Obsession with coffee — Starbucks, Dunkin' etc is crowded with office-goers and students every morning. I don't understand why they can't drink or make coffee before leaving for work. Such a waste of money! ($5/day * 5days / week * 52weeks/year)!</li>
<li>Split families, not having married parents, etc is not seen differently than the contrary. </li>
<li>Support towards the LGBT community — it's fairly normal to be part of the LGBT community; it's not considered a mortal sin if you like someone in your own gender or if you aren't comfortable being male/female/etc. Proof of this is the LGBT Pride Day held in every city etc. </li>
<li>Smoking weed is seen the same as smoking cigarettes. </li>
</ul>
And here are some more things he found surprising about America, <a href="https://www.quora.com/How-Americans-Are-Different/What-facts-about-the-United-States-do-foreigners-not-believe-until-they-come-to-America/answer/Aniruddh-Chaturvedi">excerpted from his post last summer on Quora</a> :
The way that stores price their products makes no apparent economic sense, and is not linear at all.
For example, at a typical store: - 1 can of coke : $1.00 - 12 cans of coke : $3.00 - 1 Häagen-Dazs ice cream bar : $3.00 - 12 Häagen-Dazs ice cream bars : $7.00
The return policy on almost everything: None of my friends back in India believed me when I told them that you can literally buy anything, including food, and return it within ninety days for a full refund even if you don't have a specific reason for doing so (most stores actually have a "Buyer's Remorse" category under Reason for Return options while returning the product).
The pervasiveness of fast food and the sheer variety of products available: The typical supermarket has at least a hundred varieties of frozen pizza, 50 brands of trail mix, etc. I was just astounded by the different kinds of products available even at small gas station convenience stores. 
Soda being cheaper than bottled water: It makes no sense that carbonated and flavored water with HFCS are cheaper than regular water, but hey, that's just how it is.
The fact that there are full service rest stops with decent chain restaurants and big supermarkets every couple of miles on interstate highways 
Fruit and vegetable prices, as compared to fast food prices:
- Bag of grapes : $6.00 - Box of strawberries : $5.00 - 1 lb tomatoes : $3.00 - McChicken : $1.00 - [McDouble] : $1.00
Unlimited soda refills:
The first time (and one of the last times...) I visited McDonalds in 2007, the cashier gave me an empty cup when I ordered soda. The concept of virtually unlimited soda refills was alien to me, and I thought there was a catch to it, but apparently not. Slightly digressing, I've noticed that the typical fountain machine has a huge selection, including Pepsi, Pepsi Max, Sprite, Sprite Zero, Hi-C, Powerade, Lemonade, Raspberry Lemonade (and/or their coca-cola counterparts)... The list goes on. This may not seem like much, but it is actually a lot more compared to the 3-4 options (coca-cola, sprite, fanta, limca) that most Indian soda fountain machines have. 
Serving Sizes: American serving sizes are HUGE! I've noticed that entree sizes are huge as well. I am by no means a small eater, but it usually takes me at least 1.5 meals to finish the entree. 
US Flag displayed everywhere: I was surprised to see that the US flag is displayed in schools, on rooftops of houses, etc. India has very strict rules governing the display and use of the national flag. Also, something that struck out to me was how it was completely normal to wear the US flag or a US flag-like pattern as a bikini. 
Over-commercialization of festivals: I'm not denying that festivals like Diwali and Eid aren't extremely commercialized in India, but America takes it to a whole new level. Black Friday, Cyber Monday, etc., and an almost year-round sale of Christmas, Halloween, Easter, etc. items.
An almost-classless society: I've noticed that most Americans roughly have the same standard of living. Everybody has access to ample food, everybody shops at the same supermarkets, malls, stores, etc. I've seen plumbers, construction workers and janitors driving their own sedans, which was quite difficult for me to digest at first since I came from a country where construction workers and plumbers lived hand to mouth. 
Also, (almost) all sections of society are roughly equal. You'll see service professionals owning iPhones, etc. as well. This may be wrong but part of it has to do with the fact that obtaining credit in this country is extremely easy. Anybody can buy anything, for the most part, except for something like a Maserati, obviously. As a result, most monetary possessions aren't really status symbols. I believe that the only status symbol in America is your job, and possibly your educational qualifications.
Chaturvedi ended his post with a link to a video of "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhnUgAaea4M#action=share">America F--- Yeah</a>" from the movie "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Team-America-Unrated-Widescreen-Collectors/dp/B0007Y08IS">Team America</a>."

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