Local beverages gain traction as consumer look to quench their thirst

Not only major beverage brands, even smaller ones did well this summer.

Many regional brands were able to increase their penetration in existing markets and increase their market share.

Kantar Worldpanel told Business Standard while the summer data had not yet fully come in, one fact that “we can see is that the regional brands are growing well this summer in the soft drinks category”.

“In March-May 2023, regional brands collectively had a penetration of 5 per cent. This jumped to 7 per cent in 2024 (March-May). In urban areas, this jump is from 8 per cent to 10 per cent, while in rural areas it is 3.4 per cent to 5.3 per cent. So, a good number of households are being added in both urban as well as rural,” said K Ramakrishnan, managing director South Asia, Kantar Worldpanel.
 

Mala Fruit Products, a Maharashtra-based brand that sells concentrates, crushes and syrups, said it saw strong growth in sales this summer without giving the extent to which demand increased.

“Compared to last year, we have seen our sales increase substantially, but we have also increased our footprint. This year we were able to strengthen our hold in Mumbai and expand to other markets as well,” said Pranay Saraf, modern trade and CSD head, Malas Fruit Products.

This is also the case with Dailee, a brand from Tamil Nadu. It saw demand from its territory double this year over last year. “We have a hold in South India, and saw that the quantity we sell doubled within our existing geography itself,” said Benile Issac Bright, promoter at Daily Fresh Fruits India.

He added it had to increase production during the summer months.

Adding to the fizz

Ramakrishnan said the beverages market had been doing exceptionally well in the past few years, primarily because of intensifying summers, and local brands were adding to the fizz.

He cited examples of regional brands gaining traction and garnering higher market share.

“One of the notable names among the regional brands is Davat, a Gujarat-based brand, which has a near 8 per cent share in volumes among regional brands in this summer, up from 6 per cent last year,” he said.

He said Lahori, a more recently launched Punjab-based brand, had reached a share of 6 per cent in volumes, up from a paltry 1 per cent last summer.

Talking of Campa, a brand of Reliance Consumer Products, Ramakrishnan said: “While Campa has aspirations of becoming the next big beverage brand, it is widely available only in Andhra Pradesh, and even with its limited distribution, it is occupying 6 per cent of the volumes share among regional brands, up from 2 per cent last summer.” 

Sales surge

Regional beverage brands penetration increased to 7% in March to May period compared to 5% last year
 

In urban areas, the penetration in March-May period was 10%, compared to 8% with the same period last year
 

Penetration for rural rose from 3.4% to 5.3% Y-o-Y
 

Davat brand in Gujarat grew to 8% in volume share within the regional brand space, up from 6% last year
 

Lahori, a more recently launched Punjab based brand reached volume share of 6%, up from a paltry 1% last summer

Source: Kantar Worldpanel