Parle Agro to enter pure juice market

In a bid to expand its beverages portfolio, Parle Agro, the maker of mango drink Frooti, is set to foray into the 100 per cent juice market.

“We will enter the 100 per cent juices market in October with a new brand,” Nadia Chauhan, director, Parle Agro, told Business Standard without revealing the brand name. The preservative-free fruit juice brand will be launched in Ludhiana and will be followed by an aggressive pan India roll-out. The range will include orange and apple juices.

The Indian juice and juice-based drinks market is pegged at over Rs 1,200 crore. The market is growing at around 20 per cent year-on-year. Parle Agro will face stiff competition from brands like Dabur’s Real, PepsiCo’s Tropicana and Coca-Cola’s Minute Maid.

The company will manufacture the juices in the south, where it has a high capacity lines and better economy of scale to support the new range.The juices will have an average shelf life of around four months and will be competitively priced.

Parle Agro is looking at entering other beverages categories as well.

“We will introduce two new brands in different beverage categories by early next year,” Chauhan said adding, “one of the products took us over eight years to develop as it is a technologically challenging category of beverage.”

While the company boasts of producing successful cola brands like Thums Up, which it sold to Coca-Cola, there are no plans of re-entering the segment as of now. “There are so many other categories to invest in,” Chauhan said.

Keeping in mind the strong growth in packaged drinking water segment, the company has adopted a new branding strategy to push its brand Bailley. A revamp in packaging, which is keeping in mind the changing lifestyles of the consumers, is part of the new branding startegy. The company will also look at having a diversified packaged water portfolio. “We hope to add more categories within the water space, including fortified water in the coming years,” she said.

Also, its premium apple drink, Appy Fizz, has been introduced in a new avatar. “Appy Fizz isn’t just a sparkling apple drink; as a brand it is representative of the youth. And the youth is all about constant change and experiments — with looks and style, with ideas and beliefs. Appy Fizz’s new look is in keeping with that kind of a mindset,” Chauhan explained.

At present, beverages account for nearly 85 per cent of the company’s Rs 800-crore turnover. “Going forward, we want to enter and lead new beverage categories,” she said. Parle Agro is also present in the confectionery market with brands like Mintrox and ButterCup.