Why Coke’s Can and Bottle Pricing Actually Makes Sense

Added: 2026-06-01

[00:00:00]You know, a can of Coke is one of the strangest products in the world. Think about it. A 300 ml can of Coca-Cola cost you roughly 40 rupees. But a 750 ml bottle of the same Coca-Cola also costs you around 40 rupees. Sometimes, in fact, it is even lesser on grocery apps.

[00:00:14]So, the bottle basically gives you 2 1/2 times more Coke for the exact same price. And it's not just that. The bottle is not just cheaper, it is also more practical. You can close it, you can keep it in the fridge, you can share it with someone, you can drink half now and half later and all of that stuff.

[00:00:29]But a can does not let you do any of that. Once you open it, you almost always have to finish it in one go. But still, cans are more expensive. And still, we keep buying them. But why is that the case? The obvious answer sounds very simple. Aluminium cost more than plastic. Cans cool faster because metal transfers heat a little better. They are compact, light, easy to carry, etc. Now, all of that is true. But here is the thing. These benefits basically only explain why cans exist. They don't really explain why you and I are willing to pay double the price per ml for exactly the same drink. Because think about it, if this was just about the material or the cooling speed, the price gap would have been relatively smaller.

[00:01:07]But it's not at all small. It's roughly around 2 and 1/2 times. So something definitely is going on here. Turns out beverage companies have not just created a different pack. They have also created an entirely different buying situation.

[00:01:19]And they do this through three things that most of us never even think about.

[00:01:23]And that's what I want to talk about in today's video. My name is Anra Gansal and let's decode.

[00:01:32]Now, let's start with the first one, which is how the pack itself changes the way you think about what you are buying.

[00:01:37]See, the liquid inside a can of Coke and a bottle of Coke is basically the same.

[00:01:41]It's literally the same formula. But in real life, you see them very, very differently. I'll explain. See, think about when you buy a bottle. You usually buy it at a kirana store or a supermarket or a quickcommerce app, right? You then take it home. You probably pour it into a glass. You share it with family or friends over lunch or dinner. And then you close the cap and you put the rest back in the fridge. So the bottle basically gives you three things: quantity, sharing, and value for money. Now, think about what happens when you buy a can. You're probably at an airport or you're at a party or you're probably getting something quickly on the go. You basically open the can, you drink it, and you throw it away. A can is basically not made for stocking up or sharing. It is made for one cold drink right now. One person, one moment, and that's all. It's done.

[00:02:21]Now, I know this sounds like a very, very basic difference when you first hear it, but it's actually the foundation of a very big pricing game that beverage companies play. And I'll explain that as we progress in the video. But anyway, a very very important thing to understand right now is where these products are sold. What people like you and I as consumers are comparing it with. And how do companies make sure that people like you and I never really compare a bottle with a can. That's where it gets really really interesting. But before we get there, let me show you a couple of examples just to prove to you how powerful this packed thinking is. As an example, let's look at Red Bull. Now Red Bull is almost always sold in small cans. And if you compare it to Sting, which is a much cheaper mass market energy drink. It is sold in small pet bottles and sometimes also in cans. Now these are very different price points. Red Bull is a premium product. Sting is affordable.

[00:03:09]But if you notice something interesting, neither of them sells 2 L family bottles as such. And that is because the occasion itself demands a single serve product. Basically, nobody is sitting at home pouring energy drinks for their family at dinner. Right? Energy drink as a concept is a oneperson one moment product. People mostly have it before a workout or during a long drive or while pulling off an allnighter. And both brands Red Bull and Sting despite being at very different prices understand this logic very very strongly. Let's also take another example package juice. See a 1 L carton of B natural juice costs around 75 rupees online but a small 180 ml pack of the same juice costs roughly around 20 rupees. Now if you do quick math the small pack is roughly 1.5 times as expensive per ml. But people anyway buy it because in that moment you're not just buying juice. You're buying something small, sealed and easy enough for a child or somebody to carry in a bag. Basically, if you think about it, the pack size changes what you feel you are paying for. So that is the first very important thing to understand. The pack changes the occasion and when the occasion changes, your definition of value changes along with it as well. Now let's come to the second thing which I think is even more interesting. And this one is about how the place where you buy the can ends up changing what you end up comparing it with. See, if you keep a bottle and a can next to each other in a kirana store, a bottle will obviously win every single time. The comparison is too obvious. If you see a 300 ml can for 40 rupees and a 750 ml bottle of the same 40 rupees, you don't really need to be a math genius or an MBA to figure out which one gives you more value for money, right? So then the question is, if the can loses every direct comparison with the bottle, then how does it still sell so well? That is because in most places when you actually buy a can, a bottle is simply not even there. And that is where it gets very interesting.

[00:04:52]Think about it. Imagine you're at an airport and you're thirsty and your flight is in 40 minutes. So you see a vending machine and you notice a can of Coke inside for 80 or 100 rupees. Now what are you comparing it with at that moment? You're not comparing it with a 750 ml bottle from your local Kirana store. Right? That bottle is not in front of you right now. It is not even available at the airport. You are probably comparing it with whatever else is available at the airport at that time. You probably see a water bottle, a 250 rupee coffee or a 300 rupee juice or your other option is just to board your flight thirsty which you're probably not in a mood to do. Now in that set of options at that moment the can does not feel expensive at all. In fact, it feels like the most reasonable and the most cheap choice. The exact same thing happens when you're at a cinema hall. At that point you're not really thinking like a grocery shopper. you're already in a position where popcorn costs 400 rupees and nachos cost 350 rupees. So a can at 200 rupees does not really register as a ripoff. It just feels like a part of the larger cinema experience.

[00:05:50]And that is honestly I think the biggest insight in this entire story. The same person who very very carefully picks the biggest bottle at Dmart on Sunday can very happily buy a can at the airport on Monday without even thinking twice. The person has not become less intelligent overnight. What has just changed is the situation that the person is. The available alternatives are different.

[00:06:09]Their mindset is different and the way they evaluate value is completely different. Also, by the way, speaking of Coca-Cola, here is something very, very interesting. See, as consumers, we interact with so many global companies every single day. We search on Google, we scroll on Instagram, we watch Netflix, we shop on Amazon, and increasingly we also use AI tools built by global companies. And most of the top AI, semiconductor and big tech companies today are based in the US itself. And I'm sure you have all heard about stories like Nvidia which have given returns of more than 30,000% in the last 10 years. In fact, if you compare the Indian and the US market in the last 10 years, approximately seven out of those 10 years, the S&P 500 has performed better year as compared to the Nifty50.

[00:06:51]But strangely, most of us Indian investors do not actually invest in any of these stocks. your portfolio is probably just Indian stocks, mutual funds and maybe to some extent fixed deposits as well. And while that is perfectly fine, it does mean that your entire financial life is tied to one currency, one country and one market cycle. And the reason most people have not explored US investing yet is not because of a lack of interest. The real problem is friction. People are unsure about how the process works, how currency conversion happens, and how taxes get filed. That is what IND money makes very very simple. You can invest in US stocks and ETFs directly from India. And if one share of a company feels too expensive, for example, a stock that costs say $200 per share, you do not need to put in that full amount of money. IND money lets you do fractional investing, which basically means that you can invest a smaller amount, even just as small as 100 rupees, and still own a part of the stock. And as the full share grows, your fraction also grows at the exact same rate. You can also set up SIPs in US stocks starting at just 500 rupees. So instead of trying to figure out the right time to invest every single time, you can just build exposure gradually over time. That way you can invest in a disciplined manner and earn returns. And the part that I think is very interesting is their tax support. They help you with tax reports and documentation which honestly is the single biggest mental block that stops most Indians from even starting this process. Also, IND money combines all the relevant reports in one place so that they are ready for ITR filing. And this entire process right from setting up your account to doing your KYC and getting started takes just a few minutes on the app and there are no account opening charges. So if adding some global exposure to your portfolio is something that you have been thinking about or you want to consider, do check out IND money, I'm leaving a link in the description. Now let's come back to what we were talking about. See there is actually an economic principle that talks about why the same person pays 40 rupees for a Coca-Cola at DMart and 100 rupees for the same Coca-Cola at an airport. It is called price discrimination. Now the way companies execute this is by something called pricing fences. Now I know the words sound very complicated but the idea is actually very very simple. Let me explain very easily. See a lot of times companies want to charge different prices to different people in different situations. But they cannot really make it too obvious. For obvious reasons they cannot openly say that we are charging you more because you are at an airport or you at a movie hall. But think about it. If the drink comes in a different pack in a different place for a different moment, the higher price suddenly becomes mentally easier to accept. So by the economic principle, the pack, the location and the occasion becomes the fence in some sense and you never really feel cheated as a consumer because the product genuinely feels different in each context even though the liquid inside is basically the same at the end of the day. One of the best examples of this is water. See, purely from a functional perspective, water is the same liquid everywhere. It hydrates us and does a few other things to keep the body healthy. But a one liter bottle at let's say a kirana store and a small bottle at a restaurant or a glass bottle at a premium hotel and a fancy imported bottle at a fine dining place all have very different prices. And as consumers, we kind of accept this because we do not experience them as the same product. We experience them as different situations.

[00:09:58]And that brings me to the third point which I personally think is one of the most interesting ones here. It is about how beverage companies purposely designed this entire ecosystem so that no packaging ever competes with another one. I'll explain. See, the fact that bottles show up more commonly in kirana stores and grocery shops and cans show up more commonly in airports and other places like that is not at all by chance. It is a very very deliberate strategy by these brands. Let's understand this by coming back to our example of Coca-Cola. Now, if you think about this carefully, Coca-Cola just does not sell Coke. They sell a Coke in a 200 ml glass bottle for certain restaurants, in 250 to 300 ml cans for vending machines and public places, in 750 ml pet bottles to take home, and in 1 and 2 L bottles for family consumptions and gatherings. Now, if you notice this carefully, each one of this is designed for a very specific occasion, and it is sold through a very specific distribution channel and it is also priced for a very specific comparison in the consumer's mind. And the most important part is this. They are distributed in a way that makes sure that they almost never sit next to each other and never get compared. For example, you will almost never find a 750 ml bottle at an airport. You will also probably never find a 200 ml glass bottle at a dim. And you will probably never ever find a 2.25 L bottle at a cinema hall, etc. Each format basically lives in its own world with its own price and with its own set of alternatives to compete against. And this is not just a coincidence. It is basically portfolio design. The same liquid is being put into seven or eight different packages so that the customer like you and I in each channel feels like they are paying a fair price for what is available to them at that point.

[00:11:35]So yes, when we ask why a can is more expensive than a bottle, the answer is that the can was never even meant to compete with a bottle in the first place. They were designed to live in completely different worlds for different occasions, for different locations, for different comparisons, and therefore also different prices. I think the biggest lesson from this entire story is that a company does not always need to change the product to charge more for it. Sometimes just changing where, when, and how the same product reaches the consumers is more than enough. That's all from my side in today's video. I hope you learned something new and valuable from this. If you did, please do hit the like button and also consider subscribing to my channel for more because it keeps me motivated to make more such breakdown videos for you. Thank you for watching.

[00:12:16]I'll see you in the next one. Bye-bye.