Rasna's Foray into Ready-to-Drink Beverages Market*

In India, the SDC product was introduced by Pioma Industries in 1976 under the brand name 'Jaffe'. It was renamed 'Rasna' in 1979. In the late 70's and 80's, people were habituated to drinking squashes and sherbets at home, and these were quite expensive. Pioma Industries found a huge untapped potential in 1977 when Coca Cola's operations in the Indian market were closed down due to changed Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) laws for MNCs in India. This served as an advantage for Rasna in its bid to penetrate the market...

Issues:

» Understand the entry of Rasna into the ready-to-drink market.
» Understand the challenges that the Rasna brand is likely to face in the ready-to-drink beverages market.

Introduction

In March 2012, the India-based Pioma Industries, makers of the popular Rasna soft drink concentrate (SDC) , announced that it would enter the ready-to-drink beverages market. As of 2012, Pioma Industries had a well developed distribution network comprising 35 depots and 2,500 stockiest . It had access to 1.8 million grocery and private retail outlets and 700 salespeople across India. Rasna also ventured into ethnic products like Pickles, Paste, Chutney, Curries, Gravies, Snacks, and Instant tea mix, etc. Pioma Industries believed that adding ready- to-drink beverages under the flagship brand Rasna would help it gain new revenues as well as achieve consistent growth in its business...