Parle Agro expands sparkling juices segment with Frooti Fizz

Mumbai: As part of its strategy to almost double its revenue to Rs 5,000 crore by 2018, Parle Agro is extending its flagship brand Frooti to the sparkling fruit juices segment.

"In 2005 we launched sparkling fruit juices with Appy Fizz. We launched it originally as a niche product but over time we saw the acceptance of the product," Parle Agro Joint Managing Director and Chief Marketing Officer Nadia Chauhan told PTI.

"As we looked at our growth plans, we wanted to expand this portfolio and we have launched Frooti Fizz, a sparkling mango juice drink," she said. "We have high expectations from this launch.

We believe that it is going to be a large contributor towards our Rs 5,000 crore overall revenue goal by 2018," she said. Parle Agro, a Rs 2,800 crore company, dominates the sparkling fruit juice category that is estimated to be under Rs 700 crore with more than 99 per cent share, which is growing at 25 per cent.

According to Chauhan, the mango category still holds more than 90-95 per cent market share in the Rs 6,000 crore fruit-based beverages segment and she sees a big opportunity in this segment.

"We have created the sparkling fruit juice category and now want to grow and expand the category. Our vision is to take this category to Rs 4,000 crore over next 5-7 years," she said.

Frooti accounts for 60 per cent of the company's revenue and is the second player in the mango drink space with an overall market share of 20 per cent. "Before we launched Appy Fizz, we had Appy (an apple-based beverage). We saw that with the launch of Appy Fizz, it had a positive rub-off effect on Appy which then was growing in double digits," she said.

"It is continuing to grow at more than 40 per cent today. We are pretty sure that with the launch of Frooti Fizz, the overall mango category for us will gain share considerably," Chauhan said. Frooti Fizz is priced at Rs 15 for 250 ml PET, Rs 30 for 500 ml PET and Rs 25 for 250 ml can.