Cadbury Schweppes Gets Fipb Nod For Rs 70cr Investment

Cadbury Schweppes Beverages India plans to invest Rs 70 crore over five years to strengthen its infrastructure and distribution network in the domestic market and also make forays into neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

The British parent has already received the Foreign Investment Promotion Board nod for fresh injection of funds in its 100 per cent Indian subsidiary.

The Indian subsidiary had earlier invested Rs 15 crore for the launch of its products.

In Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, the Indian subsidiary will set up bottling plants through franchisees.

The company has already begun the search for franchisees and hopes to market its products by the year-end.

 

For the domestic market the company has lined up plans to launch its soft drinks Crush, Canada Dry and Bitter Lemon in 330ml cans and in 1.5 litre PET bottles.

The canned beverages will be launched in March, while the PET bottles will hit the market in April.

The company already has a presence in select markets for its non-carbonated drinks in the one-litre PET bottles.

Dr Pepper, another orange drink from Cadbury Schweppes, with 24 fruit flavours will be launched in the country in October this year or next March Ashok Jain, vice president and country head (beverages), Cadbury Schweppes Beverages India, said.

The company would like to be a leader in all non-cola drinks, he said.

Towards meeting this objective, it plans to expand its network. By October, it will have a presence in all the metros and major towns.

For the current calendar year, the company has targeted to double its sales to Rs 80 crore from the Rs 40 crore recorded in the previous year.

Its major focus will continue to remain in the orange drink segment which constitutes 12 per cent of the Rs 2,000-crore soft drink market in India.

The going, however, could get tough for Crush as Miranda and Fanta, rival brands in the global market, are gearing up to take on the new orange expansion.

However, Jain was not perturbed by the competition.

He pointed out that wherever the company had launched its softdrinks, it had grabbed a 4.5 per cent of the market share. Crush is targeted at teenagers, the single largest segment constituting over 40 per cent of the market, whereas Miranda and Fanta are more focused towards children, he pointed out.

In Maharashtra the company has already tied up with bottlers in Pune (Pune Beverages), Mumbai (Mecoy Bottling Company) and Nashik (Nasik Enterprises) for launching its beverages.

In Pune the launch was on February 28, while in Mumbai it will make its maiden entry on March 10.