FMCG firm Parle Agro is all set for a full fledged re-entry into the carbonated soft drinks market in India with its latest brand, Cafe Cuba from which it expects Rs 1,000 crore sales in the next 12-14 months.
After test marketing the brand for a few months last year, the company said it expects the Cafe Cuba to be one of its largest brand in the next couple of years.
Cafe Cuba, a coffee carbonated product, is the first product from Parle Agro in the carbonated soft drinks space after it sold its popular and iconic soft drink brands — Thums Up, Limca, Gold Spot and Citra — to Coca-Cola in 1993.
“We used a few months of last year to test market the brand and be ready for the peak summer season. About 60-65 per cent of beverage sales happen in summers. We are looking at Rs 1,000 crore turnover from Cafe Cuba in the next 12-14 months,” Parle Agro JMD and CMO Nadia Chauhan Kurup told PTI.
When asked if the company has set very ambitious target, Kurup said: “Carbonated soft drinks category is Rs 30,000-35,000 crore in size so a percentage Rs 1,000 crore (from Cafe Cuba) is very small. We believe it is aggressive but achievable target.
“We have spent last couple of years to scale up our infrastructure, mainly distribution and re-equipping the manufacturing plants, to allow us to achieve our sales target,” she added.
The company, which expects Cafe Cuba to be one its top seller products in the coming years, is also looking at rolling the product outside India.
“Cafe Cuba will be one of our largest brand in the next couple of years. We also feel there is very high opportunity to drive this brand globally. Once we settle the brand in the India, We will start with global expansion. This will happen over the next 6 to 18 months,” Kurup said.
The company which reported turnover of Rs 2,500 crore in fiscal 2013-14 is targeting 40 per cent increase in turnover at Rs 3,500 crore this fiscal.PTI