Coca-Cola India to make 'Maaza' $1 billion brand by 2023

Mumbai: In a bid to increase the market share of its non-carbonated drinks, beverage major Coca-Cola India Wednesday said it plans to make its mango fruit juice product 'Maaza' a USD 1 billion brand (in retail sales) from India by 2023.

"Since 1993, when we brought Maaza into the Coca-Cola family, we have invested to make it the largest juice brand in the country," Venkatesh Kini, president of Coca-Cola India said here today.

"As we embark on the mission of turning Maaza into the world's first USD 1 billion juice drink brand coming out of India, we visualise the multiplier effect that it can have on agriculture, and the food processing sector.

"Only 20 per cent of the market has tasted Maaza so far, and we have another 80 per cent to go," he added.

The resource infusion behind Maaza is part of the USD 5 billion investment plan of the Coca-Cola Company and its bottlers in India between 2012 and 2020.

The bottlers are setting up five greenfield projects over the next two years, in addition to 57 bottling plants that already exist, at least 50 per cent of which will have manufacturing lines for Maaza over the next few years, the company said.

Non-carbonated drinks account for about a third of Coca-Cola revenues in India, Kini said.

Coca-Cola and its bottlers will invest in enhancing the brand by launching affordable, value for money juice packs, expanding distribution and augmenting manufacturing to double Maaza sales by 2023.

"Coca-Cola and its bottlers are therefore embarking on an ambitious plan to accomplish in eight years, what they haven't achieved in the last four decades," the company statement said.

Coca-Cola and its bottlers annually procure 70,000 metric tonnes of mango pulp worth Rs 500 crore.

In 2023, if Maaza reaches its target of USD 1 billion, Coca-Cola estimates that it will end up procuring over 1.4 lakh metric tonnes of mango pulp annually, worth nearly Rs 1,100 crore, thereby helping over 1 lakh farmers.

Coca-Cola is also looking at doubling sales of Minute Maid, its orange flavoured fruit-based drink, in the next three years to Rs 1,000 crore, Kini said.

Currently, Coke, 7up, Maaza, Kinley, Sprite, and Thumsup are among the Coca-Cola brands which have revenues of over Rs 1,000 crore.