New Delhi: Two decades after Parle sold marquee soft drinks brands such as Thums Up, Limca and Gold Spot to Coca-Cola, one of the Parle brothers, Prakash Chauhan, is returning to the carbonated soft drinks segment. Chauhan's Parle Agro on Tuesday launched Cafe Cuba, the country's first coffee-flavoured carbonated beverage.
The product, available in 250 ml cans priced Rs 20, was recently test-marketed in big cities and is now being taken to smaller towns and rural markets. The maker of juices and fruit drinks such as Frooti, Appy and Hippo expects the new coffee drink to record Rs 1,000-crore sales in the first 12-18 months of its launch.
In an exclusive interaction with ET, Prakash Chauhan said his firm is initially targeting 5% share of the Rs 15,000-crore carbonated soft drinks (CSD) market with Cafe Cuba. Edited excerpts:
Was the decision to re-enter CSD emotional?
It was more business than emotional. Emotions will come in after the product is put in the market. The product is more a strategic one, which we feel has a greater chance of success in a big category.
Cola segment is big in soft drinks, while tea is the preferred choice in the hot beverages space in India. Both your beverage and its name are completely different...
When we were thinking about what could be a possible product, there were many options, including tea and coffee. We decided on coffee and started working with flavour houses to blend the product, which came out good. If we had created another cola, then we would have spent lots of money to compete with rivals. But we created coffee and are not competing with any other products in the market. We are targeting a 5% market share initially.
Will you replicate similar strategy you had for Thums Up and other popular brands?
We will bring a strong character and an identifiable taste, which is not common. Even today, Thums Up has its identity and taste. We don't want a wishywashy personality of the product and have to be focused on what this product is without wavering from it. We will follow everything same as earlier because we should never deviate from a success story.
Won't you feel bad when the new product competes with brands you created years ago?
Not at all. Within our company, if this brand competes with Appy Fizz, it's not a problem. Our focus is on creating strong character and personality and identifiable taste.
No comments:
Post a Comment