ITC Eyes Higher Market Share in Fruit Based Beverages
India: Indian consumers are becoming
more health conscious and their inclination for fruits-based beverages is on
the rise. Companies are realizing this trend and now more products are being
offered by them. Indian conglomerate ITC is relatively new entrant in this
category that launched B Natural Juices in January 2016.
The share of fruit-based beverages in
the overall food division of ITC is fairly less at the moment but company sees
it going up to 7 percent to 9 percent in the next couple of years. In coming
two years ITC will also expand to around 16 businesses in the food division from
the current 11 businesses. Organized juice market is set to see phenomenal
growth in the coming years, which is currently dominated by Dabur’s Real and
Pepsi’s Tropicana. At present ITC’s market share in organized juice segment is
around 7 percent and company is aiming to take it over 10% by around this time
next year. Organized players are pushing the market forward by offering new
products.
The company would be manufacturing the
new beverage in its Bengaluru facility and is looking forward to the opening of
ITC's new facility in Kapurthala in Punjab which can start producing B
Natural's new variant once it is operational next year. The Kapurthala facility
will be spread across 70 acres and will entail an investment of Rs 1,400 crore.
According to TechSci Research, packaged fruit-based beverages market is
projected to register higher growth in coming years as consumers are showing a
desire to consume packaged beverages. Furthermore, busy lifestyle of metro
cities and Tier I cities is likely to propel the demand of fruits based
beverages. Besides, India is experiencing an increase in personal disposable
income, and also increasing expenditure on healthy beverages options. This consumer
shift is likely to help ITC in having an increase share by next year. Besides,
ITC has been growing very fast in the Indian market and it can leverage its
existing resources to take it market share forward.