40 Years & Counting: Thums Up plays to its strengths

With a new variant, Coca-Cola is stepping up the strong cola narrative that has been associated with the brand for the last four decades

It is one of India's best-loved home-grown brands, and now, Thums Up, the country's largest cola drink, is rolling out its first variant after four decades. To some, the move may seem out of context. Why a variant now, when the flagship remains the darling of the masses?

But Coca-Cola India, which owns the brand since 1993 when cola king Ramesh Chauhan sold Thums Up among other soft-drinks to the multi-national, says there is a rationale to it.

“It was time to innovate the core,” explains Vijay Parasuraman, vice president, marketing, Coca-Cola India & Southwest Asia. “Thums Up remains a strong cola