Rasna (drink)

Indian soft drink concentrate

RasnaType| Drink mix

|

Manufacturer| Pioma Industries
Country of origin | India
Introduced| 1976[1]

Rasna is a soft drink concentrate brand owned by Pioma Industries which is based in Ahmedabad, India.[2] It was launched in mid-seventies but started gaining popularity in the eighties when the market was dominated by carbonated soft drinks like Thums up, Gold Spot and Limca.[3] As of 2009, Rasna had a 93% market share in the soft drink concentrate market in India[4] and as of 2011, the company had a turnover of ₹3.5 billion (US$42 million).[5]

Additionally, its very popular among children, Rasna operates over 40 mock tail bars across India under brand 'Rasna Buzz'.[6] These bars are targeted to the Indian tastes by youngsters and offer variety of products on menu such as soda-based drinks, milkshakes, sundaes and specially created mocktails, Mirchi Mango, Masala Orange, Minty Jeera Lemonade, Kala Khatta Buzz etc. Rasna Buzz also offers these drinks with Indian cuisine like idli, batata vada apart from the regular burgers, pasta, momos and french fries. The first of such bar was opened at Pune in 2019.[7]

## Facilities and products

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Though the company does most of its business in India where it has five manufacturing facilities in Gujarat and one in Himachal Pradesh,[8] it has manufacturing facilities outside India in Bangladesh, Dubai, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.[9] The company manufactures soft drink concentrate in 11 different flavours.[8] In India, Rasna earns most of its profits from the soft drink concentrate market though it makes fruit jams, fruit cordials, teas, pickles, chutneys, ready-to-eat curries, and snacks, majority of which are exported.[5]

In 2000, Rasna launched an aerated fruit drink, Oranjolt.[10] The venture failed, which was attributed to the fact that the drink needed to be refrigerated at all times and many retailers in India switch off their refrigerators at night.[11] The company launched juice products in the market in 2002[12] and in 2010, it announced that it was entering the health drinks segment.[13]

## Advertising

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The company has used national television as a mode of advertising its products since the 1980s.[3] Its tagline "I love you Rasna" is aimed at children.[3] In the original ad campaign, the Rasna girl was played by Ankita Jhaveri, now an actress in South India while the latest one, Avan Khambatta is from the Khambatta family which owns the company.[14] Rasna's distribution was initially taken up by Voltas and after two years of handling, Khambhatta decided to withdraw and approached Rallis and Corn products (now known as Bestfoods and owned by Unilever).[15] However, since that did not materialise, Pioma Industries set up its own distribution infrastructure.[16] Their brand advertising was managed by Mudra Communications between 1984 and 2005, Dentsu between 2005 and 2009 and from 2009 onwards by Rediffusion.[3] In the past, Karisma Kapoor, Hrithik Roshan, Anupam Kher, Paresh Rawal, Kapil Dev, Virender Sehwag and Genelia D'Souza have been Rasna's brand ambassadors.[17] Currently, Rasna's brand ambassador is Akshay Kumar.[18] As part as a promotional campaign featuring then Miss India, Pooja Chopra, Rasna made an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the "world's biggest glass" in 2009.[19][20]

## Competition and failed acquisitions

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Kraft Foods, which markets soft drink concentrate under the Tang brand internationally, entered India in 2001 by setting up a manufacturing facility in Hyderabad. By 2003, tough competition from Rasna among other brands forced Kraft to shut its plant in India. At the time Rasna was said to be interested in purchasing the plant.[21] However, the plant was not sold and restarted manufacturing Tang when it was taken over by Cadburys in 2010 as part of its global buyout by Kraft Foods.[22] Rasna made another attempt at acquisition in 2003 itself, when it attempted to buy Brown & Polson and Rex Jelly brands from Hindustan Lever.[23] According to Piruz Khambatta, chairman and managing director of Rasna, the deal offered was a licensing deal rather than an outright buyout, hence it fell through.[24] India was the first market where Coca-Cola launched its soft drink concentrate brand, Sunfill.[25] This brand too did not do well and was withdrawn in 2004, failing to break Rasna's monopoly in the segment.[26] Like Tang, Sunfill too has been recently relaunched in India, in 2011.[27]

## References

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1. ^ D'Souza, Kruti Shah, Alan (2009). Advertising and promotions: an IMC perspective. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill. p. 600\. ISBN 9780070080317.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
2. ^ "Rasna plans to enter soft drink market". Rediff.com. 1 October 2004. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
3. ^ a b c d "Rasna's journey: Moving from children's drink to keep its communication fresh and in-tune". The Economic Times. 13 April 2011. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
4. ^ "Rasna's CSR trust ties up with US varsity for management courses". Business Line. Chennai. 18 March 2009. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
5. ^ a b "Rasna to aggressively mine hinterland, sees 40% volume uptick". The Economic Times. 11 March 2012. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
6. ^ PTI (9 May 2021). "Covid derailed investment, expansion plans: Rasna". Telangana Today. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
7. ^ "Rasna Buzz marks brand's entry into non-alcoholic bar business". The Financial Express. 12 June 2019. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
8. ^ a b "Rasna Plans Exports to US, UK, Africa". The Financial Express. Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. 27 May 2004. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
9. ^ "Rasna to set up new facilities abroad". The Economic Times. Mumbai, India. 20 March 2008. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
10. ^ Saxena, Rajan (2005). Marketing Management. Tata McGraw-Hill Education. p. 721\. ISBN 007059953X.
11. ^ Haig, Matt (2005). Brand failures: the truth about the 100 biggest branding mistakes of all time. Kogan Page Publishers. pp. 55, 56. ISBN 0749444339.
12. ^ "Rasna turns a new leaf, adds juice to products". The Times of India. 22 January 2002. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
13. ^ "Rasna to enter health drinks segment". The Economic Times. 30 August 2010. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
14. ^ "Piruz Khambatta's daughter to say, I love you Rasna!". Daily News and Analysis. 27 February 2012. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
15. ^ Baisya, Rajat Kanti (2008). Changing face of processed food industry in India. New Delhi: Ane Books India. p. 31\. ISBN 9788180521669.
16. ^ Davila, Tony; Epstein, Marc J.; Shelton, Robert, eds. (2007). The Creative Enterprise: Strategy. Westport, Conn. [u.a.]: Praeger. p. 125\. ISBN 9780275986865.
17. ^ "Celebs 'ad' glamour to Gujarat brands". The Times of India. 21 February 2012. Archived from the original on 13 June 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
18. ^ "Akshay Kumar signed as brand ambassador of Rasna". 9 March 2015.
19. ^ "'World's biggest glass' unveiled". The Times of India. 29 May 2009. Archived from the original on 1 April 2012. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
20. ^ "Rasna carnival under way". The Hindu. 29 May 2009. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
21. ^ "Kraft Foods' Tang Plant Up For Sale". The Financial Express. 22 March 2003. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
22. ^ "Cadbury to make Tang in India". Business Line. Chennai. 18 November 2010. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
23. ^ "HLL Drops Plan To Sell Rex, Brown & Polson Brands". The Financial Express. 1 August 2003. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
24. ^ "Rasna in outsourcing talks with Carrefour". The Economic Times. 16 November 2006. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
25. ^ "Coca-Cola introduces powdered concentrate". The Hindu. 22 November 2001. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
26. ^ "Sunfill on backburner, Vanilla Coke moves slowly". The Financial Express. 23 November 2004. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
27. ^ "New players eyeing Rs 300 cr powdered beverage market". FNBNews.com. 25 April 2011. Retrieved 12 March 2012.

## External links

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* Official website
* International Taste and Quality Institute