Rasna founder Areez Khambatta passes away at 85 due to cardiac arrest

Areez Khambatta, the man behind the iconic home-grown beverage Rasna, passed away in Ahmedabad due to cardiac arrest on Saturday at the age of 85.

Khambatta, the son of Phiroja, was the second generation to join the business in 1962.  The orange-coloured drink gained popularity in the 80s at a time when the Indian beverage market was dominated by carbonated beverage brands such as Limca, Gold Spot, and Thums Up.

The drink today is not only available across a million households, but is also exported to 60 countries. Rasna still enjoys a high recall and the brand’s ‘I love you Rasna’ campaign of the 80s and 90s still resonates in the minds of people.

The company was started in the 1940s and initially only sold concentrates and was a business-to-business (B2B) player. It later went on to cater to the business-to-consumer (B2C) market, initially sold under the brand name Jaffe and distributed only within Gujarat. In the late 1970s, Jaffe was relaunched as Rasna.  

When Khambatta joined the business, he continued to run it (Pioma Industries) both as a B2B and a B2C entity.

The brand was sold in a Rs 5 pack, advertised as a concentrate that could be converted into 32 glasses of the orange flavoured drink, costing a mere 15 paise per glass. “Khambatta started India’s original start-up by creating the world-famous Rasna brand, which today also quenches the thirst of millions of Indians at an affordable price point of Rs 1,” the company said.

The company also said that Khambatta through his untiring efforts generated thousands of jobs — directly and indirectly.

“With him developing fruit-based products, millions of farmers got better value for their produce across the country,” said the company. Khambatta’s son, Piruz, entered the business at a young age of 18 in 1992 and decided to make the product more accessible in rural areas and launched the concentrate at a unit price of Rs 2, making six glasses. Piruz also went on to launch many more flavours once he came into the business.

Khambatta leaves a lasting legacy behind for his wife Persis, his children Piruz, Delna, and Ruzan, his daughter-in-law Binaisha, and grandchildren Arzeen, Arzad, Avan, Areez, Firoza, and Arnavaz.

“Khambatta has contributed immensely to the Indian industry, business, and most importantly, societal development, through social service, as Commandant of Ahmedabad Home Guards and Civil Defence for 20 years,” the company said in its statement.

He was awarded the President of India’s Home Guard and Civil Defence Medal, as well as the Paschimi Star, Samarseva, and Sangram Medals. He was honoured with the National Citizen’s Award for his outstanding contribution in the field of commerce by then President of India Shankar Dayal Sharma. He was also conferred the Samman Patra by the finance ministry for his contribution to the National Exchequer as the highest taxpayer of Gujarat. He was felicitated by the Ahmedabad Parsi Panchayat and chosen as the first Outstanding Parsi of Ahmedabad, the company said.