Snapshots of Food Industry News
Coca-Cola to venture into the popular dairy drinks segment
Coca-Cola is all ready to introduce a value-added dairy drink Vio. Presently, two flavors ‘Kesar Treat’ and ‘Almond Delight’ of the new brand are being sold exclusively through Reliance Retail stores across the country as a pilot test. This is the Beverage Major’s first foray into the dairy segment. The company has tied up with Schreiber Dynamix Dairies Pvt Ltd to manufacture the product. Vio has been priced at Rs.25 per 200 ml pack and has been made for the Indian population that likes a lot of creamy milk content. After the initial launch, Coca-Cola will make Vio available through their traditional distribution chain.
This venture is part of the investment goal of Coca-Cola for 2020 as the company has planned to double investments in India to about Rs.28, 000 crores. While the company could set up its own packaging plants in the future for the dairy segment, they have no plans to collect milk. Coca-Cola already has 54 plants in India for their various beverages of which 24 are franchise plants, 25 are company-owned and 5 are co-packers. Coca-Cola is looking to play a major role in the growth of the value added dairy drinks segment. Presently this segment is estimated to be 120-135 billion liters a year but remains largely unorganized.
Sugar-free products becoming a priority for Food and Beverage companies
Global players Coca-Cola, Kellogg, and PepsiCo are reducing sugar levels in their products across the globe because of rising health concerns. These companies are all set to introduce new beverages with sugar-free or low-sugar in India as a top priority and have already applied for necessary licenses and permissions to FSSAI.
For their India portfolio, Coca-Cola has in mind Diet Zero and Coke Zero, while PepsiCo and Kellogg are working on introducing smaller packs to limit potions, low sugar, and healthier variants.
Packaged foods and beverages are known to have high sugar content which could give rise to health issues like diabetes and obesity especially in children. These companies have therefore also voluntarily stopped advertising to children below 12 years of age. They have also declared that they will reduce sugar content by at least one fifth and will also introduce low sugar level products. This move may have come as a response to the fact that the UK government is thinking of levying a sugar tax on the beverage industry.
50 Indian companies slated to participate in Shanghai food show
SIAL China, the largest food show in Asia, will be held in Shanghai from May 5-7, 2016. Already 28 Indian companies have registered and some others will do so very soon. The exhibition will help to reduce the huge trade deficit between India and China as the exhibition will boost India’s Food & Beverages exports to China. India’s trade deficit with China touched USD 44.87 billion last year, while exports fell to USD 13.38 billion but with bilateral trade showing some increased trade totaled USD 71.64 billion which was a lot less than the targeted USD 100 billion as agreed upon by the two countries.
China is the world’s largest consumer market where the food market alone is estimated to exceed 1.73 trillion USD by 2018. India’s participation at SIAL, China should be seen as a step that will strengthen the agro-processing industry. Since India’s food and beverage ambitions are high so participating in events like SIAL China, should help provide opportunities for trade in this sector. Grocery, beverages, and confectionery are some products that could fulfill China’s import needs. These areas of Indian processed foods could excel as India is an agricultural powerhouse and could easily supply China’s needs.
United Breweries to launch Kingfisher Buzz in India
United Breweries is all set to introduce its malt-based ready-to-drink (RTD) beverage ‘Kingfisher Buzz.’ Beginning with Bengaluru, Goa and then Delhi, the beer maker will introduce the drink in all major towns and cities in India by the end of this year. Two flavors of Kingfisher Buzz: berry and lychee are already available in Mumbai, Pune, and Thane. Introducing Kingfisher Buzz is part of the company’s strategy to extend its portfolio and reach even the non-beer drinking customers.
Presently the estimated market size of RTD in India is 2 million cases and is growing annually at around 11-12 percent. Bacardi Breezer dominates the malt-based ready-to-drink market and they sell over two million units in India alone. UBL’s Kingfisher Buzz will, therefore, compete directly with Bacardi Breezer for the market share in this segment.
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