Parle Agro re-enters cola market with Cafe Cuba

Two decades after selling off its carbonated soft drinks portfolio,Prakash Chauhan-headed Parle Agro today announced its re-entry into the segment with a new coffee-flavoured carbonated drink,to be rolled out by early next year.

The company unveiled Cafe Cuba,targeting the 17-30 age group,priced at Rs 20 for a 250-ml can while the PET bottles will be sold at Rs 15. The company will start selling the product by January-February 2014. Parle Agro had sold its popular and iconic soft drink brands namely Thums Up,Limca,Gold Spot and Citra,to Coca-Cola in 1993 and had also signed a non-compete agreement for 10 years.

By the launch in the segment,the company aims at more than doubling its turnover,targeting Rs 5,000-crore mark. The carbonated soft drink market is estimated to be Rs 15,000 crore currently and the company is aiming to garner a market share of 7 per cent within the very first year of its launch. “We are creating a completely new category in the carbonated soft drinks space. The carbonated drinks market only has lemon,cola and orange flavours. So we thought this could stand out clearly. The vision is to create a differentiated product and it took us 10 years to develop it,” Chauhan said.