Frooti Soars Past PepsiCo’s Slice To Win The No.2 Slot In The Market

The competition in the Indian market for mango-based drinks is on the rise as Coca Cola’s Maaza, Parle Agro’s Frooti, and PepsiCo’s Slice try to grab a hold of elusive market share. Coca Cola’s Maaza has remained at the top of the market running on three years as Frooti and Slice battle it out for second place. With new initiatives and more focus on PET bottles for easier consumption, Frooti has taken over the No. 2 slot from Slice after nearly a decade. According to industry sources, Frooti had a market share of 25.6% while Slice dropped down to 23.4% of India’s Rs. 6300 crore mango drink market in Q1 of this year ending in March. 

Shifting To PET

With a focus on PET bottles and an all new brand makeover, Frooti has emerged as a strong contender for the second spot. While the company was responsible for first introducing tetra packs, recently, larger focus has been put on converting its products into the more customer friendly PET. Speaking to Economic Times, Nadia Chauhan, joint managing director at Parle Agro, said, “Our new positioning and campaigns have been focussed on PET to expand consumer base and grow this package portfolio.” 

Fresh Marketing

Frooti has also focused on improving its “cool” quotient with an aggressive brand makeover.Last year, Frooti turned to New York based agency Sagmeister & Walsh for a makeover of its brand image with a new logo and a visual avatar, a first in over 30 years. The ad featuring Shah Rukh Khan introduces the makeover with animated characters and the all-new logo. The aggressive strategy also saw the release of an all-new ad with Shah Rukh Khan last month. With aggressive marketing techniques from the company, the change at the top of the market comes as no surprise.

Need For Innovation

Although the mango-based drink market is on the rise with consumers preferring fruit-based drinks over regular cola drinks, the market still requires more innovation, according to industry experts. Devendra Chawla, group president, FMCG and brands, at Future Group, noted that “In no other market across the globe does one single flavour contribute 80% of business and that’s leading to erosion of pricing power and lesser margins.” While big brands are fighting for the same market share, new brands such as Paper Boat have turned their focus towards category expansion, according to Chawla. According to a report from Euromonitor, introducing new products into the market and expanding product range is a surefire way to gain market share.