Indian Soft Drink Market Expected To See Significant Growth, Says PepsiCo Bottler Varun Beverages
Varun Beverages is PepsiCo's second largest franchisee (outside the U.S.), possessing rights to manufacture, distribute and sell carbonated soft drinks, fruit juice-based drinks, packaged drinking water, sports drinks and energy drinks spanning across 6 countries.
The Indian soft drink market is expected to see 'significant growth' as consumption is anticipated to increase steadily, which will deliver sustainable and healthy volume growth across all product categories, said Varun Beverages Ltd., PepsiCo's largest franchise bottler.
This would be driven by factors such as shifting population demographics, the rising spending power of young consumers, accelerated urbanisation, and growing rural consumption.
The company is in the process of further expanding its capacities to meet the higher demand expectations, said Varun Beverages in its latest annual report.
Its distribution model and on-the-ground end-to-end infrastructure facilities continue to be the key growth drivers and Varun Beverages remains committed to extending it to newer areas and under-penetrated regions to further boost its market presence,' it added.
While from an operational standpoint, Varun Beverages continues to focus on new product categories and evolving customer preferences.
Launch of new products such as energy drink 'Sting' performed well across various geographical regions and recent launches in the value-added dairy segment have received positive consumer response.
'Overall, Varun Beverages is confident in its ability to deliver strong and sustained growth moving forward, owing to the exceptional performance during the year, normalisation of the environment, and the expanded capacities to meet the high demand expectations,' it said.
Varun Beverages is PepsiCo's second largest franchisee (outside the U.S.), possessing rights to manufacture, distribute and sell carbonated soft drinks, fruit juice-based drinks, packaged drinking water, sports drinks and energy drinks spanning across six countries.
In India, Varun Beverages has a presence in 27 states and seven Union Territories and accounts for 90% of PepsiCo India's beverage sales volume in the country.
Varun Beverages in the domestic market is consolidating existing distributors and increasing distribution in underpenetrated regions.
It is diversifying its portfolio by 'periodically launch of innovative products in select markets in line with changing consumer preferences', said Varun Beverages.
It will focus on non-cola carbonated beverages and non-carbonated beverages. In the bottled water segment, the company is looking at a 'significant growth' opportunity.
Varun Beverages manufactures, markets and distributes PepsiCo-owned products like carbonated soft drinks, carbonated juice-based beverages, juice-based beverages, energy drinks, sports drinks and packaged drinking water.
The company, which follows the calendar year as its financial year, recorded a revenue of Rs 13,173.1 crore in 2022.