Priced at Rs50, the drink will be packed in 25cl cans and 30cl PET bottles. This is the first time an energy drink manufacturer will look at launching PET bottles in India.
“A PET bottle allows you to see the drink. It is also recyclable and it aids consumption,” said Bisleri International chairman Ramesh Chauhan. “That is because it is easy to carry, plus when you have a PET bottle, which sits with other PET products in a shop. Chances are people will pick it up.”
According to reports, unlike energy drinks pushed in discos, clubs, pubs, high-end traditional trade and pharmacies, Urzza will be available in all outlets, mom and pop stores, groceries, modern and high-end traditional trade. “We will leverage Bisleri’s distribution system to push Urzza. We are not restricting its reach because we believe that it is very much an everyday drink,” said Chauhan.
The ‘cola king’, as Chauhan is fondly called, has a reason why he thinks Urzza is not a regular energy drink, which typically cannot be consumed by children or pregnant and lactating mothers. “Besides the absence of caffeine, there are also no stimulants such as guarana and taurine that are common in energy drinks,” he said.
“Instead, we have infused it with vitamins B and C besides other ingredients aimed at charging up the body. In fact, Urzza has been positioned as a liquid charger minus ingredients perceived as harmful to the body. This makes it more mass in its appeal. And by pricing it almost 41-44% below the average price of a 25cl can of energy drink, we are ensuring that it is affordable.”
It took Chauhan five years to come up with Urzza, and given the effort, he has set ambitious sales targets for it. “In the first year, I am looking at achieving 8% of Bisleri’s volume sales for Urzza and I have told my regional sales managers that they have to work in this direction otherwise the product will get lost within our system, forget the marketplace. Products fail not because of the consumer, but because they account for an insignificant amount of sales to justify the kind of dedication they need. I have told my managers that they have to do a minimum of 8% of sales for Urzza in the first year, if the product has to go anywhere.”
Source: Business Standard/Economic Times
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