Mango drinks to give you burps this scorching summer

As summer approaches, the market for mango based drinks in India also gets heated up every year. 

The Rs 6,300 crore mango based drinks category, which is seeing a solid annual growth, is also experiencing an intense competition this year with companies launching more products in the growing mango fizzy drinks sub category.

The aerated beverages category in India is around Rs 14,000 crore. Estimates say nearly 155 million consumers prefer carbonated drinks, juices and fizzy fruity drinks.

"As consumers increasingly move away from carbonated and synthetic drinks towards fruit-based natural products, mango drink brands see a lot of potential in fruit-based drinks in the fizz category. And hence, there has been a slew of launches by mango drinks brands in India," an industry expert said. 

The advertising in the category is also seeing a phenomenal growth. According to Adex, the fruity fizzy category spends have doubled in the last year, indicating a clear shift in consumer sentiment towards this segment.

The Indian mango drinks market is currently ruled by Coca Cola's Maaza with a 48% share, followed by Frooti with a share of 25.6% against Slice’s 23.4%, while other players have a meager 3% share.

The category is getting crowded at the bottom with companies such as Bisleri and DS Group also launching their mango based drinks in the sub category. 

Anjana Ghosh

Seeing the scope of growth even in the already cluttered mango drink market, Bisleri International launched its new brand Bisleri Fonzo. Explaining the launch, Anjana Ghosh, Director, Marketing and Business Development, Bisleri International, said, “We found that there is a lot of clutter in the mango drink market, undoubtedly, but Fonzo’s offering is unique. The consumer is looking for alternatives to colas and fizzy drinks or just juice. There was something, which was missing. We thought that the missing link was to give the consumer something healthier, but fun and refreshing. Fonzo is a mix of real fruit juice and the fizz that gives refreshment.”

The drink is already available on the shelves in the South and will soon make a nationwide presence by the end of April. Ghosh said, “The drink has been appreciated and very well accepted by the consumers as the taste it offers is unique.”

Not to be left behind, PepsiCo is also bringing back Slice in its original form as an aerated drink with 10% real fruit juice, just as it first introduced the product in the US in 1984. Slice was discontinued in the US in the 2000s, and now sells only in India as a mango drink.

Vipul Prakash

“We will shortly be introducing an affordable range of locally relevant fruit juice drinks with fizz under the Slice brand. PepsiCo India is committed to making it easier for consumers to choose lower calorie options through beverage category innovation and smaller portion sizes, as part of our portfolio transformation under our ‘Performance with Purpose 2025’ goals. We have been doing this in a variety of ways like reducing sugar in existing products and the introduction of lower/zero calorie beverages,” said Vipul Prakash, Senior Vice-resident, Beverage Category, PepsiCo India.

The drink will be available as a pilot in select markets to start with. In an email reply to BestMediaInfo’s query, PepsiCo stated, “Rural and Rest of Urban (ROU) segments are currently 60% of the juice category and have been growing faster than metros. By riding on both company and franchise go-to-market sales and distribution infrastructure, we want to dial up growth and market access for our juice products in these key rural, ROU markets.”

Not just mango, but fruit juice drink with fizz under the Slice brand will include both ethnic favourites such as jeera, guava chilli and mainstream flavours such as apple, lemon, orange and clear lime. All these variants will have over 11% juice.

Last year, Parle Agro’s Frooti announced the launch of Frooti Fizz. Frooti Fizz was an attempt to build on the success of the original fruit beverage, which is Parle Agro’s largest revenue earner, making up more than 60% of the company’s sales.

Coca-Cola’s Maaza, which the American firm acquired in 1993 from the Chauhan family-owned Parle Bisleri, along with other brands such as Limca, Citra, Thums Up and Gold Spot, is still the market leader.

For Fonzo, the company hasn’t set any market share objective till now. Ghosh said, “Our first objective is to reach the entire market and prepare ourselves with the production capacity to back distribution and at the end of two-three months, we can set our number.”

In September 2016, DS Group, under its marquee brand Pulse, also ventured into the mango drink space with the launch of Pulse Mango. 

Shashank Surana

Shashank Surana, VP, New Product Development, DS Group, said, “Pulse Mango Drink carries forward the DNA of Pulse candy. It brings a clutter-breaking mango drink with a twist – ‘Drink Mango Masala Maar Ke’. It’s a unique treat with a delightful taste to the buds. We have kept the communication for the brand which defines its uniqueness.”

Manpasand, which has been driving growth through its flagship brand Mango Sip – that has a 75% share of its revenues – has tied up with Parle Products to cross-promote products. This would enable Manpasand to get access to the 4.5 million outlets of Parle Products across India.

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