The shelves of local shops are fi lled with an abundance of imported beverages. Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Fanta, Sprite, Frooti, and Red Bull among others have made the way to rural Nepal, where agriculture is still the primary source of income. As the result of increasing access to imported goods and products in rural markets, local products are gradually losing ground. This paper shows that tailored consumer education can assist de-cocacolising the market and increase the competitiveness and diversifi cation of local products. It does so by imparting knowledge and skills to individuals to be critical and responsible consumers who start seeking an equal share of local products in the rural market. For this paper, extensive desk review, rural market observations and interviews with consumers of different age groups, vendors and youth wereused as data generation techniques.Keywords: Cocacolisation, de-cocacolisation, consumer education, local products, postmodern consumer
Diverse ConsumersThis paper starts with three brief stories of different types of consumers: traditional, modern and postmodern.
Story 1:We started to sell milk in our village 45 years ago and it has since become one of our major sources of income. At that time, milk was also a major part of our daily food. We used to consume fresh milk, yogurt, skimmed milk, butter and ghee every day. Over the time we had more and more cattle, mainly buffaloes and cows, and the milk production increased likewise. High in calories, ghee is the most nutritious food we have and it is essential for every religious and ritual activity in Hindu families. We still produce skimmed milk -the liquid remaining after spinning the milk to butter -every 15-20 days. This is less frequent than before. Our children don't like skimmed milk. They prefer fresh milk and yogurt. We haven't tasted Coke or Fanta in our entire life. It is impure and touched by people from lower castes. Even if somebody would offer it to us, we would not take it. We don't allow our children to drink imported drinks. Skimmed milk, in contrast, is very good for our health: it helps to increase our apatite; it gives us energy and stamina. We can work long hours with only drinking a mug of skimmed milk and it has no side effects. These days, you can see that this is changing slowly; younger generations are exposed to many new things and fashions, including imported beverages. (Interview with the Brahmin brothers Buda, age 69, and Tek, Age 64, in rural area of Kavre District, Nepal)