Onjus - Squeezed Out

The company was involved in making, bleaching, and dyeing of polyester yarn. During 1988-89, with competition becoming fierce in textiles, Tulsidas Goyal (Goyal), Managing Director of the company identified agro-processing as a focus area. In 1990, Goyal set up a plant in Vapi in Gujarat state, to process guavas, mangoes and bananas into puree and concentrates. Enkay Synthetics was merged with the fruit-processing unit and renamed as Enkay Texofoods Ltd. The company was successful in the export markets (Europe and the Middle East), and some of its clients were Nestle, Unilever, Pepsi, Coke and Heinz. ETL's fruit-processing plant was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).⁶

ETL had done some preliminary research before the launch of Onjus. Based on the findings from their research, Onjus was given a sweeter taste compared to the imported juices. But at the same time, an element of bitterness was retained to emphasize on the naturalness. Onjus used oranges from Florida and Brazil adding the Indian mandarin to suit Indian taste buds. The pricing was also based on the market research study, which showed that volumes came from the Rs.5-Rs.9 segment. Goyal decided to concentrate on volumes and priced a 250ml pack at Rs.9. Through Onjus, ETL planned to drive the shift from carbonated drinks to natural juices. Natural juice was considered healthier than carbonated drinks. But, the quality of raw materials at the juice outlets prevented people from trying out natural juice...