Q] You are entering the soft drink market after almost two decades. Why did you choose this particular time to enter the market?
You first look for opportunities, and then you look at your own strengths. We feel we have a good distribution and managing set-up to handle soft drinks now. We didn’t venture into this market earlier because Bisleri was very small. Today, we can proudly say that at many places, Bisleri outsells Coke and Pepsi. You can’t enter a field as a defence mechanism; you have to be ready for it. I also had to think what will happen if my existing business goes down, because of shifting focus to a new market. I better look after that too.
Q] Six months ago, when we spoke, you had said that the cola market is declining and you would never enter it. What has changed since then?
Good point. See, we are not making a cola. What we are making is a ‘spicy’ cola. Now that is a variant which consumers would love. Plus, we as Indians don’t like anything straight, we like everything with some masala in it. We even put chaat masala on fruit. So here is an opportunity of giving people something different. To give you another example, Pina colada as a drink seems to be the first choice of youngsters today. But frankly, I didn’t even know what Pina colada was before launching it as part of Bisleri Pop. None of our flavours are like any other flavour in the market. Even our Limonata doesn’t taste like Sprite or 7Up. Somebody said it tastes like Citra, a brand that we had earlier. I told him, ‘You seem to have a damn good memory, how can you remember something which was discontinued years ago?’ We are looking to build excitement among consumers, to do more than the same old cola, same old orange and same old lemon lime.
Q] The carbonated drinks market is growing at a very slow pace, even Coca-Cola was forced to shut down three manufacturing units due to lack of demand. Are you hoping the entry of Bisleri Pop will change market dynamics?
No. Let’s be very clear. I am a very small time player in the carbonated beverages industry. Our infrastructure in terms of facilities for carbonated beverages is quite limited. So we are not going to be market-shakers. We are just going to try and create a niche market for our unique flavours.
Q] But you are once again pitted against Coca-Cola and PepsiCo. What would be the strategy this time?
I don’t think so. They are too big and way ahead of us, in terms of years. So, to think that way would be disastrous for us.
Q] You exited the market at a time when Thums Up was the No.1 beverage brand. Do you think people still remember that you gave Thums Up to India?
True, but people will not be buying me, they are buying my products. So, what I did, I did. What’s important now is can I do something with these four flavours, similar to what we did 20 years ago with Thums Up and the rest.
Q] Any regrets on selling such popular brands like Thums Up, Maaza, Citra, Gold Spot, etc., to Coca-Cola in 1993?
At that time, we had 62 plants all over India, out of which four were ours, and 58 were franchisees. They were not owned by us and thus we had no share-holding or say in their decisions. When many of these franchisees, who had worked with us for years, wanted to switch over from Parle drinks to an MNC giant, Coca-Cola, I had no choice. In fact, if I had resisted, I would have got nothing. Also, the poor guys who were loyal to me or our products, would have suffered. So it made no sense to hold on to the brands, and we sold them. We got good money, and then happily developed Bisleri.
Q] How different is the cola market today when compared to the market that you had exited?
The carbonated beverages or soft drinks market has substantially changed with juices coming in, and many more flavours. Both Coke and Pepsi have introduced all sorts of variants, but somehow they don’t seem to be going anywhere.
Q] You have the rights to produce Maaza in the country but not to sell it. Any plans to introduce a mango-based drink, a much loved category in India?
There are enough people trying to fight it out in the mango-based beverages category here. Let them do it. I want to do something which nobody has done. That is where the opportunity lies - I won’t say challenge because giving people something different is an opportunity. Nowadays, everybody wears pants, sarees or dresses are rarely seen. Things are changing, and even torn pants are acceptable. This is the change which people want. And, we are catering to it with our new flavours.
Q] You launched Urzza about a year ago. Has it lived up to your expectations?
Urzza has been put on the back-burner for a while. We are doing a lot of re-thinking, re-designing etc., on it. I know it has been just a year since its launch, but many things were not quite right, we thought.
The cola market is known for its ad wars. Why have you decided against releasing a TVC in Phase I of your marketing campaign for Bisleri Pop?
We have got too many things to worry about. First and foremost, our bread and butter is Bisleri. The question is, are we doing enough for Bisleri, our mineral water brand? Additionally, we are getting confused about what to call Bisleri. We’ve got Bisleri Vedica, Bisleri Urzza, Bisleri Pop - so when you are talking about Bisleri, which one are you talking about? We will think about a TVC for Bisleri Pop later.
BY NEETA NAIR
