Two decades after selling its popular soft drink brands, Parle Agro is re-entering the carbonated soft drink (CSD) segment with its new coffee-flavored fizzy drink, Café Cuba.
Unveiling the product here on Tuesday , Prakash Chauhan, Chairman & Managing Director, Parle Agro, said the sweetened carbonated beverage in a coffee flavour would be `the first of its kind’ in India. ``We wanted to create a unique product that would be well differentiated in the market,” he pointed out
Two decades
The Mumbai-headquartered company today makes Frooti, Appy, Appy Fizz, baked snacks, toffees and Bailley packaged drinking water, and has a turnover of Rs. 2,000 crore. It had sold its iconic soft drink brands namely Thums Up, Limca, Gold Spot and Citra, to Coca-Cola over two decades ago. Mr. Chauhan said Café Cuba would be launched nationally next January-February.
A diet version could follow soon, he added. “We are targeting a turnover of Rs. 1,000 crore in the first 12-18 months after launch. We will consider exporting the product once it is established here. We expect to have a significant presence in the Rs. 15,000-crore CSD segment in India,’’ he said,
The product will be launched in cans priced at Rs. 20 for a 250 ml pack, and in PET bottles at Rs. 15 for a 250 ml pack.
Nadia Chauhan, Joint Managing Director and Chief Marketing Officer, Parle Agro, said Café Cuba would target consumers in the 17-30 years age group, which accounted for more than 70 per cent of CSD consumption in the country.
She said Parle Agro aimed to more than double its turnover to Rs. 5,000 crore by 2015 largely on the back of Café Cuba. ``While the coffee flavour is currently imported, it will get indianised over time,” she added.
Capacity increased
The company will make Café Cuba across all its 14 factories, and has increased capacity by 60 per cent over the last few years, investing around Rs. 150 crore. It will also expand its distribution network from 800,000 outlets to 1.5 million outlets. “About Rs. 100 crore went into Café Cuba capacity creation of around 3 million units,” Ms Chauhan said, adding that the company would deploy around Rs. 50 crore for the marketing campaign.
