Maaza becomes Coca-Cola’s fastest growing brand in India

The mango drink has overtaken the growth rate of Thums Up and Sprite, the beverage maker’s largest brands.

Coca-Cola India’s fruit-drink brand Maaza has emerged as the fastest growing brand within its portfolio this summer season. This growth is on the back of a strong rural push at affordable price points.

Maaza is Coca-Cola India’s third largest brand after Thums Up and Sprite, but it has overtaken their growth rate. The mango drink, which competes with Parle’s Frooti and Slice from PepsiCo, is the category leader within juices.

Sedef Salingan Sahin, President, Global Nutrition Category, Coca-Cola Company, speaking at a media roundtable last week, called the India business a ‘jewel’ in terms of its contribution to the company’s global growth.

“Maaza is at the heart of our nutrition business in India and one of the leading brands here. We are also working on new innovations to build a much broader Minute Maid proposition in India,” she added.

The beverage maker will be pumping in significant investments in the nutrition category in the next three to four years. Speaking to Economic Times, Arnab Roy, vice-president and head-marketing, Coca-Cola India and Southwest Asia said that the nutrition category will be one of the key growth drivers for the company.

“We are investing to set up additional manufacturing lines for Maaza. Our ambition is that the brand should continue to grow in strong double-digits for the next three years. A lot of incremental growth for the brand has come from expansion in rural markets with focus on smaller packs at affordable price points,” he said.

Roy said that Maaza could touch billion dollars in sales “in the next few years”. Coca Cola India plans to take the mango drink to markets outside India and is working on obtaining regulatory country-specific clearances.

This year, the brand roped in Amitabh Bachchan and Pooja Hegde for its summer campaign.

In FY21, Maaza had reported total sales of Rs 2,826 crore, higher than the sales of Coke.

Maaza is a heritage brand and has been around since 1976. It was acquired by The Coca-Cola Company along with Thums Up and Limca from Ramesh Chauhan of Parle Bisleri in 1993, when it had re-entered the Indian market.