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Craving for variety, flavours boosts fruit juice market
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Wednesday, 16 January, 2013, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Nandita Vijay, Bengaluru
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fiogf49gjkf0d With the summer a few months away, Indians are looking to quench their thirst the healthy way - fruit juices and fruit-based drinks.
The Indian non-carbonated beverage market is valued at Rs 20,000 crore, with an estimated size of 120 billion litre annually. Out of this, the packaged beverage segment is around five per cent.
The beverage market comprises various brands of carbonated soft drinks, non-carbonated drinks like the energy drinks, powder-based versions, fruit-based beverages and non-fruit-based varieties such as soya and milk-based beverages and iced tea.
The demand for fruit-based juices prompted Coca-Cola to enter the juice market with Minute Maid, which is available in two flavours – Nimbu Fresh and Pulpy Orange. In fact, fruit-based drinks will soon surpass soft drinks. One of the largest players in the segment is Dabur’s Real, which holds 50 per cent of the market share. PepsiCo’s Tropicana has 35 per cent chunk of the business.
Soya-based offerings
Hindustan Lever Ltd has the Kissan Fruit Kick range of fruit and soya-based beverages. Other players include Parle Agro's Frooti, FieldFresh Foods’ Del Monte and Jain Agro Food Products' Cocojal (a brand of packaged tender coconut water). Besides them, there are regional players like Balan Natural Foods, Jagdale Foods and Health Magic Natural Foods.
According to industry estimates, the fruit-based segment is estimated to be about Rs 1,000 crore. It covers categories of 100 per cent pure/natural and sweetened versions. Jagadish Pai, executive director, Protein Foods & Nutrition Development Association of India (PFNDAI), noted that fruit-based beverages and packaged water sectors are expected to witness significant growth.
Of late, newer categories of beverages, such as organically-grown fruit-based drinks (like organic mango juice), have also emerged. “In the past, India exported organic mangoes to be processed into packaged juices. But now, the industry here has the capability and the required certification to develop organic beverages,” Chetan L Hanchate, food consultant, food processing, Centre for Processed Foods, said.
“There is a huge scope for both Indian and international beverage companies to storm across the sub-continent to cater to the young population, which has the propensity to spend and keen to experiment,” Hanchate said.
Fruit-based drinks
In 2013, both Coca-Cola and PepsiCo will invest heavily to garner a substantial market share. Parle Agro too has chalked out plans to sell not just Frooti, but also offer novel beverages in the non-carbonated category.
According to the Indian Beverage Association (IBA), it is not just mango, orange or lime which are seen as the preferred choices, but consumers are also willing to experiment with variety and pay a premium for value-added products. There is a growing category of informed buyers which is able to distinguish between a fruit-based beverage and a 20 per cent fruit pulp version.
“Moreover the intake of juices is no more seasonal, but is opted as a choice to maintain good health. India is also positioned with the best advantage to profit from its juice manufacturers, as different variants of fruits are accessible right through the year,” the body stated.
“A fruit-based beverage can be drunk at breakfast, as a mid-morning or a late evening option. During festive occasions, fruit-based beverages are gifted like chocolates and sweets,” the IBA added.
The dynamics of growth in the fruit-based beverage space are attributed to modern retail and alluring shelf displays which drive the impulse purchase. Another concept which is gaining ground is the category of out-of-home consumption or on-the-move consumers.
This had led the industry to opt for convenient and handy packs. Installation of vending machines at public places and the availability of 200 ml packs in restaurants and airlines are some of the approaches attract the out-of-home consumers. Efforts are also on to ensure capacity building to offer small pack options and make certain that beverages are made available chilled.
“Busy lifestyles seek convenient solutions, which present a big opportunity. We have designed to offer 1-2 servings instead of large packs for in-home consumption. Our Appy drinks in the carbonated segment are marketed in PET bottles have led to double-digit sales,” Nadia Chauhan, joint managing director and chief marketing officer, Parle Agro, said.
“To ensure rural market reach, small outlets and point-of-contact locations like transport hubs and Internet cafes, our range of beverages are stocked with 100 ml packs priced at Rs 5 in the urban areas too,” she added.
Fibre-enriched juices
According to Tropical Fruits International Ltd, mango pulp and juices that have a content of 20-100 per cent fruit pulp are on an upward growth curve. There is a huge inclination for exotic flavours like guava, litchi and cranberry, besides value-added options, such as fibre-enriched juices. Del Monte and Dabur’s Real Activ Fibre variant are the leading brands in this segment.
There is an increasing trend of consumers making healthy choices in their beverage consumption. They are opting for either Kissan fruit and soya juices, which are based on the concept of taste and health, or Godrej Herschey’s Sofit Soya Milk.
Considerable interest is evinced by consumers for base-level flavoured beverages which are gently isolated from the fruit as a whole and even secondary flavours like apple, grape and currant, according to Defence Food Research Laboratory (DFRL), Mysore, which is engaged in the development of fruit juices for the armed forces.
As per Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysore, India is home to a vibrant street fruit juice market, including sugarcane to citrus-flavoured juices. Beverage researchers are still working out ways to stabilise certain fruit juices like chickoo, mosambi and watermelon, which are problematic to package because of texture, leading to lack of consistency in quality.”
The institute has developed the carrot juice beverage, which blends with suitable fruit juices and flavours, including spices. It has developed cola, coffee and lime-flavoured beverages.
The powdered beverage category is estimated at Rs 550 crore. Players include Rasna International's Rasna Orange, glucose powder drink Glucose D and FruitPlus, Kraft Foods India's Tang and PepsiCo’s glucose-based drink Lehar.
These have garnered an excellent response, given the category's value proposition. But industry reports suggest that to be able to make a dent in the competitive market, companies will need to adopt a differentiated strategy and communication platform to sustain the competition.
Scope, opportunities
According to Technopak, although fruit-based juices are a small base of the food and beverage sector, there is considerable scope and promising opportunities as beverage majors are now engaged in building a portfolio of favourite brands.
A Datamonitor report stated that there was higher preference for freshly-made juices, followed by packaged versions with no added sugar that would witness a beeline of consumers. In the phase of global economic slowdown and rising inflation in the country, the beverage industry was working to offer affordability and appeal to promote packaged and bottled fruit juices as part of the daily diet.
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