Reliance Retail buys into 'desi' power by acquiring local consumer brands

By acquiring a string of local consumer brands, the conglomerate is looking to build volumes and scale in its private label retail business

A few days ago, Reliance Retail surprised the market by acquiring the Campa brand from Delhi-based Pure Drinks Ltd for Rs 22 crore. A successful cola brand in the eighties, especially in North India, Campa Cola thrived when Coke exited India in the late seventies. When the Atlanta-based major returned and PepsiCo set base in India, it went down fighting.

Even more surprising is the second carbonated brand with which, sources said, talks are in the final stages for a joint venture. This is for Sosyo, a fizzy fruit juice brand from Surat which was closely associated with the