If the past six years have been marked by the fierce battle for dominance over the country’s telecommunications market between multibillionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance and erstwhile leaders like Airtel, Vodafone & Idea Cellular, the year 2023 has surely set a new tune. This time, the focus has shifted on the country’s Rs 68,000 crore soft drinks market – primarily dominated by two American giants – Coca-Cola and PepsiCo.
Reliance Consumer Products Ltd. (RCPL), the newly launched entity from the Mumbai-headquartered conglomerate, is being armed with key brands and products, apart from Reliance’s muscle over distribution and supply chain for the next battle.
Read More: Shivalik Small Finance Bank Hikes Interest Rates On FDs
To begin with, Reliance recently bagged the once iconic brand Campa Cola – a brand launched in 1970s to fill the vacuum created by the exit of Coca-Cola from India. Ironic enough, it was the entry of Coca-Cola, coupled with its fierce battle for market share with arch-rival PepsiCo in early 1990s, that led to the decline of Campa and led to the latter’s extinction.
That, however, has now come to a full circle when Reliance bought the brand from its Delhi-based parents Pure Drinks Group at a meagre Rs 22 crore a few months ago – only to place it against Coke and PepsiCo. Currently available across Reliance Group retail outlets — the cola drink is being sold at a significant discount compared to offerings from Reliance’s American rivals. For instance, at Jio Mart – Reliance’s flagship e-grocery venture – a 2 litre bottle of Campa Cola is offered at Rs 49 against Rs 70 for a 1.75 litre bottle of Coca-Cola, Rs 66 for a 2.25 litre bottle of Pepsi Cola.
To lure the non-cola drinking consumers, Reliance has picked up a 50 per cent stake in Gujarat-headquartered Sosyo Hajoori Beverages that sells over 100 flavours of soft beverages under nearly a dozen brands including Sosyo, Kashmira, Lemee, Ginlim, Runner, Opener and Hajoori Soda. According to Isha Ambani, Executive Director, Reliance Retail Ventures Limited, Reliance management is confident that their “knowhow, consumer insights and retail distribution strengths will help accelerate the growth momentum of Sosyo.”
Read More: Paytm nears 6 million merchants paying subscription for payment devices in Q3
Further, to build a strong leadership team that may give it an edge over the long-standing market leaders in the brewing ‘battle of colas’, Reliance has roped in T Krishnakumar – former President of Coca-Cola India and South West Asia. A Coke veteran, KK (as he is popularly known in the cola industry) has been instrumental in Coca-Cola’s bottling and distribution operations for years. Having successfully headed the group’s in-house bottling company – Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages (HCCB) – KK’s expertise in soft drinks market is unparalleled in current times.
But a curious question to ask is about Reliance’s overall strategy vis-a-vis the beverage business.
According to Abneesh Roy, Executive Director at the leading domestic brokerage house, Nuvama Institutional Equities, Reliance’s recent acquisitions, such as Sosyo, in the non-alcoholic beverages space, is “potentially negative” for leading players like Varun Beverages (that handles bottling operations for PepsiCo) and Coca-Cola.
“The recent moves clearly show that Reliance Consumer has identified beverages as one of the important pivots for its FMCG business,” Roy said.
Roy further points out that Reliance is playing on a dual strategy: 1) acquire a dormant, but legacy, brand, which is Campa Cola, which not only has long-term potential, but also great recall value, thereby making Reliance spend agressively on advertisements, put up retail and distribution infrastructure in terms of coolers, etc. 2) Acquire existing regional players, supply-chain providers, operating in the same space in order to get access to distribution, brand and manufacturing capabilities.
“Reliance is creating a dedicated retail distribution network for its fast-expanding consumer brands portfolio, which includes packaged consumer products brand Independence. It was also in talks to acquire Garden, Lahori Zeera and Bindu Beverages, among others. In addition, Sosyo’s expertise in formulations can be leveraged to develop a unique value proposition for the product portfolio and consumers,” he added.
