PepsiCo to rejig portfolio with less than 100-calorie drinks

The size of the aerated beverages market in India is estimated to be around Rs 22,000 cr. And PepsiCo demands a healthy share in this pie. The beverage category is growing in an encouraging manner 6 to 7 pc. Non-fizzy beverages are growing faster.

PepsiCo India Senior VP (Beverage category), Vipul Prakash (pictured right) tells us, “The two categories that are growing the fastest in India are hydration (Aquafina, Himalayan Mineral Water) and dairy. Quaker Dairy (oats and milk) was our foray in the dairy segment. Hydration is growing in double digits (10 to 11 per cent) while juices are growing by 8 to 9 per cent. The company has nine Rs 1,000 cr brands, out of which four are carbonated soft drinks. Lays and Kurkure are also Rs 1,000 cr brands.”

Elaborating on the company’s strategy, Prakash says, “Our plan globally is to have two-thirds of our beverage portfolio to be dominated by the sub-100 calorie category by 2025. For India we are looking at 2021. If we sell 100 bottles, 67 bottles will contain less than 100 calories.”

Prakash and senior officials were in Chennai to launch Mirinda Joosy, a new variant under the popular Mirinda brand which contains has a lower sugar content and higher fruit juice content.

Tamil Nadu was one of the biggest markets for the company bringing over Rs 1,000 crore in annual retail sales, he said. “TN is biggest market for Mirinda as a brand and we are launching with less sugar without changing the taste,” he added.