Dairy Drinks competition to intensify

India: Vio, a Coca-Cola’s carbonated milk drink is set to be launched in India. The step marks Coca-Cola India’s first concerted foray into value added dairy segment. Country’s per capita consumption of milk is high and offers huge opportunity in this segment. The dairy category is estimated to be worth INR 75,000 crore, with the milk contributing the largest share of about INR 50,000 crore and the company aims to target the big share of this. Moreover Coca-Cola believes this will be the next growth pillar for the company after sparkling drinks, water and juices.

Product Vio has been the part of Coca-Cola’s product range in other countries and this has been specifically developed to suit the taste of Indian consumers with standardised variants like Almond and Kesar. The product will be sold via modern trade outlets, aiming to cover over 65% of the country in the initial phase. The product will be priced at INR 25 for 200 ml tetra pack. Currently Vio is manufactured by Schreiber Dynamix Dairies. Company has pinned its hopes its core strength like branding, packaging and distribution for making Vio a successful venture while also looking for partnerships.

According to TechSci Research Coke’s entry in dairy drink will intensify competition in this category and is expected to put Amul, Mother Dairy and other small players under pressure. Coke has huge advantages in terms of economies of scale, vast distribution channel across India and access to capital.  These advantages can help company in making Vio a successful brand in coming years. The pricing strategy has also been kept very competitive which will allow a bigger consumer segment to include the product in their daily shopping list.