1. http://www.financialexpress.com/news/CocaCola-Launches-Soft-Drink-Concentrate&8216Sunfill&8217-In-Pune/40952
Coca-Cola Launches Soft Drink
Concentrate ‘Sunfill’ In
Pune
| Pune, March 20: | Updated: Mar 21 2002, 00:00 IST
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While it is carrying on pitched battles in the aerated soft-drinks market, cola giant Coca-Cola
India is treading an all new turf -- the powdered soft drink concentrate market.
Rasna will have to ready its battle gears as Coca-Cola’sSunfill emerges over the
horizon.
This orange flavoured drink mix is ready to use and comes in sachets priced at just Rs 2.
Formulated in India for the Indian markets.
Coca-Cola regional operations vice president Syed Safawi said that Sunfill was the first
powdered soft drink concentrate in Coca-Cola’s soft-drink portfolio and was aimed at
the household segment and at smaller cities and towns.
Aerated drinks have not yet penetrated in these markets because of the affordability factor.
There is aRs 200 million market for this kind of an beverage and we hope to pick leadership
position in this market, Mr Safawi said.
The total Indian powdered soft drink concentrate market is estimated to be around Rs 80 to
Rs 90 crore with Rasna enjoying 85 the market share.
"We hope to grow this segment and are confident of doubling it in a year’s
time,’ Mr Safawi said. It will be available in 25 grams priced at Rs two and 200
grams pack priced at Rs 15.
New flavours are under development and the lemon and mango could be next on the shelves.

2. The product was launched in Pune on Wednesday. The product will be rolled out in the rest
of Maharashtra and other states in the western region in the following weeks.
Sunfill was test launched in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu three months ago.
The Sunfill marketing campaign will be launched soon and will include media advertising
with a new television commercials and ground level signage.
For the TVC targeting housewives and children major focus will be doordarshan. McCannErickson is handling this campaign.
Sunfill will be packed by copackers with whom the company has already tied up.
The concentrate powder will be supplied from the Coca Cola’s Pune plant.
Five Sunfill plants are coming in the country in Bhopal, Delhi, Kolkata, Andhra Pradesh and
Tamil Nadu.
In Maharashtra, Sunfill is being distributed by Amar Tea Distributors, the company that owns
the Society Tea brand.
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View other Company Briefs
HrithikRoshan is Rasna's new brand Ambassador
Section: Ohter Briefs Category: Advertising
View other Company Briefs
HrithikRoshan is Rasna's new brand Ambassador
Company release, March 18, 2005
New Delhi
Rasna, the market leader with 93% of the Soft Drink Concentrates (SDC) market brings to you the
heartthrob of Bollywood, HrithikRoshan, as their new brand ambassador. As a part of Rasna's
marketing strategy for summer 2005, Hrithik will star in Rasna's fresh advertising campaign along
with the naughty and smart Rasna kid, AnujPandit. The veteran adman PrahladKakkar has directed
the two new Television Commerial's (TVC's) for Rasna's popular existing range - RasnaJucUp and
Rasna Cola Cola that will hit television channels soon.
Commenting on signing on HrithikRoshan as Rasna's new Brand Ambassador for Rasna,

3. Mr.PiruzKhambatta, Chairman & Managing Director, Rasna Private Limited, said, "HrithikRoshan is
the perfect fit to Rasna's philosophy and ideals. He loves kids and is adored by kids and adults, alike.
Hrithik is the epitome of strong family values and honest commitment, similar to the values that
Rasna embodies. Together, he and Rasna symbolize true Indian values and strengths.
Hrithik's excellent health and fitness not only in reel life, but also real life embodies the passion that
drives Rasna to provide its customers with healthy and high quality products! We take pride in being
a brand trusted and loved by people of all ages, across India and are committed to providing the best
quality, healthy soft drinks for all to enjoy."
Rasna Private Limited, the Rs. 250 crore, Ahmedabad based company, has made Rasna, into one of
the most recognized brands in India. Rasna virtually created the soft drink concentrate market and
now is the leader in this category with almost a 93% volume share, making Rasna one of the world's
largest selling soft drink concentrates. Excellence in product offering, packaging, creative promotions
and an extensive distribution network has enabled Rasna to hold the 1st position in the Beverages
category in the country (source: Brand Equity Most Trusted Brands Survey), the 15th most trusted
brand in India across categories and the Most Preferred Brand in the Soft Drink Concentrate
Category in the first ever FMCG Awards 2003.
Rasna's 7 regional offices and a strong distribution network including, 5,00,000 direct retailers and
11,00,000 in-direct retailers matches that of any large prominent Indian FMCG company or a
multinational, with a front line field force of 350 highly motivated sales personnel, 24 warehouses
and 2500 stockists across the country. Besides an extensive network in India, Rasna also has offices
in USA, Dubai and Bangladesh and a manufacturing base in U.A.E and exports to more than 40
countries across the globe.
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4. A big drink:Rasna has been the segment leader since the 1980s and it still boasts of a healthy 20%
growth. But this growth is fuelled by its rural customers rather than the intended urban populace
http://business.outlookindia.com/article_v3.aspx?artid=281048
Magazine | Jun 09, 2012
Can The Love Affair Continue?
Soft drink concentrate leader Rasna wants to make its mark in new categories like squashes and
health drinks. But there are several challenges ahead
Krishna Gopalan
P
iruzKhambatta believes in blind taste tests. He begins meetings by offering tastes of over
a dozen drinks, brands withheld, and waits for feedback. “We listen to everything our
customers say,” says the 42-year-old CMD of Rasna Ltd, before reluctantly setting the drinks
aside to talk about his plans for the soft drink concentrate brand. Launched in the mid-1970s,
Rasna soon became a staple at birthday parties. Three decades later, the soft drink concentrate
market is still dominated by Rasna — the Rs 600 crore company has a 97% market share
(see: Full to the brim). And in the era of multi-litre PET bottles of colas and cartons of juice,
Khambatta insists the segment is still growing at over 20% each year. “We are the market and
it will take a lot to beat us,” he confidently says.
But then, the 20% growth is driven by rising rural consumers rather than from its traditional
clientele, urban households. Rural market now contribute a third to sales and are growing in
excess of 30% while urban sales are growing only by 10-12% per annum. One option to

5. propel growth could be to scale up its presence in smaller towns aggressively, but Khambatta
isn’t taking that route. “We will increase our presence in rural areas slowly, however we,
don’t want to expand too rapidly because distribution costs can spiral out of control very
quickly,” he says.
Right now, Khambatta is focusing on taking Rasna outside its comfort zone and making a
mark in new categories like squashes and energy powder drinks. He’s also planning on
positioning Rasna’s offerings in the already overcrowded nutrition and health platform. What
does this mean for Brand Rasna and can it succeed in this very challenging space?
Sweet success
Rasna’s success in the 1980s hinged on a simple
strategy: transfer the cost of sugar — which accounted
for 60% of the cost of flavoured drinks — to
consumers. Households could thus decide how sweet
they wanted their drink, making the product
affordable. Advertising that reiterated the value-formoney (VFM) proposition — 32 glasses from every
pack — helped consolidate Rasna’s position.
It helped that competition was non-existent. Some metoo products — Sunfill, Trinka and Tang (in its first
avatar) — tried their luck, but Rasna was too wellentrenched by the mid-1980s.
The market today is completely different. Income and
aspirations are growing and store shelves are creaking
under the weight of affordable options. Carbonated
drinks, fruit juices and squashes have flooded the
market with economical packs and private label alternatives are even cheaper. Rasna now
faces intense competition and is in danger of losing relevance. Which is why Khambatta is
moving into the larger beverage market. “I just need to be careful to not dilute the equity of
the Rasna brand,” he says.
A battle with milk
Like every company in the beverages market, Rasna too wants to get on the health
bandwagon and become the “health beverage of choice”. But that’s not going to be easy. “In
the minds of most people, health means milk. We don’t have an answer to that,” Khambatta
admits. In India, milk-based drinks are still considered the healthiest, followed by 100% fruit
juices — and right now, at least, Rasna has no plans to enter either segment. The Rs 2,200crore malted drinks category, for instance, is dominated by brands like Horlicks and Boost
(GlaxoSmithKline) and Complan (Heinz). “There is a dire need for tailor-made nutritional
solutions. Affordability will play a role in consumer decisions, but they would generally
prefer products that are well-researched and taste good,” says RR Pal, general manager,
R&D, Heinz India.
Rasna is banking on just that. A new subsidiary, Rasna Beverages, will spearhead the foray
into the ready-to-drink (RTD) segment, which will launch fortified water, energy drinks and

6. premium fruit drinks over the next couple of years. ARs 60 crore greenfield manufacturing
facility is planned for this (the parent company already has seven manufacturing facilities
across India). The opportunity is big: the overall market for non-alcoholic beverages is worth
Rs 20,000 crore (see: The mocktail party) and is growing at over 20% a year.
“We want to be the
health beverage of
choice. But to most
people, health means
milk. We don’t have
an answer to
that"PiruzKhambatta,
CMD, Rasna Ltd
The idea now, whether with RTD products or with additives, is to
“make Rasna a ritual”, thus ensuring customer stickiness and
repeat purchases. All new launches, therefore, focus on promoting
regular consumption. Last summer, the company introduced
Rasna Glucose D in Kolkata. No formal advertising campaign has
started, but in informal communication and below the line
activities, it’s promoting the flavoured glucose drink as an aftersport necessity for children. Another product, Rasna Squash, was
launched in Kerala last year where it is being positioned as a
breakfast drink. “The idea is to make it a quasi-energy
consumption,” says JagdishAcharya, founder and creative head of
Cut the Crap, the advertising agency handling the Rasna Squash
account. The ad shows a boy scoring a goal in a game of football
and claiming it’s because he had 21 fruits for breakfast. “The way
we see it, any beverage at home that can be consumed is
competition,” adds Acharya.
It remains to be seen how effective a different positioning will be in an over-crowded market.
The organised squash market in India is just about Rs 300 crore, with Kissan dominating
smaller, regional players like Mapro, Ganesh and Haldiram. For his part, MayurVora, MD of
MaproFoods, thinks Rasna’s strategy makes sense. “Rasna has a strong presence in powdered
beverages, which is at the lower end of the market.
Over the past few years, consumers have become
willing to spend on options that cost a little more,” he
says. The worry, however, is that the squash market is
growing at less than 10% a year, again because of the
growing popularity of the RTD segment.
The price proposition
What works against Rasna is it’s no longer the only
VFM brand. Indeed, in many cases, the company can
no longer lay claim to that differentiator any more. For
instance, Rasna Fruit Plus, a powdered energy fruit
drink, is Rs 5 costlier than Tang for a 500 gm pack (Rs
90 versus Rs 85). Rasna’s agency, however, explains
why the VFM tag is no longer relevant. “Juice powder
consumption is an indulgence in India,” says Priti
Nair, director, Curry Nation, which handles the
mother brand and Rasna Fruit Plus accounts. “It’s also
the first time Rasna is speaking of real fruit,” she adds.
Soft launched in 2008, Fruit Plus has now started
aggressively advertising on the health platform, with
VirenderSehwag as brand ambassador. According to
Nair, while the focus is on energy and health, the first

7. hurdle is convincing the mother about the product. “Rasna has been innovative by launching
flavours like guava and watermelon, which should help mothers buy into the format. The
price crosses their minds much later,” she says.
An everyday affair?
Can Rasna become the ritual that Khambatta wants? Veteran adman PrathapSuthan, MD,
Bang in the Middle, believes the task will be extremely difficult. “There is a very strong
perception that Rasna is artificial/ synthetic. People may not be willing to start their day with
it. It is easier to make the consumption of juice a ritual compared to anything artificial.”
Even Rasna’s own creative team agrees that it’s an uphill task. The challenge is to remove the
perception of Rasna as a thirst-quencher and increase consumption to all year rather than
remain a summer drink. “That will require sustained communication,” concedes Acharya.
Rasna spends about Rs 40 crore a year on advertising and, although it’s still remembered for
the “I love you, Rasna” ads, the brand has had celebrity endorsers like KarismaKapur,
HrithikRoshan, AnupamKher and now, GeneliaD’souza. The “I love you Rasna” has been
replaced with a more slick “Love you Rasna” in a bid to appeal to today’s youth. Has it
worked? Suthan says it’s a good idea to latch on to the energy and nutrition platforms but
wonders how unique a differentiator it will prove. “It should have done this a long time ago,”
he says. The key challenge will be to get past its “artificial/ synthetic” tag and communication
should focus on emphasising its natural ingredients wherever possible. If consumers buy that
argument, perhaps the love affair will continue. Otherwise, Rasna runs the risk of
estrangement from its customers.