Chennai, Jan 18 (Inditop.com) Soft drinks major Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages (Coca-Cola India) may substitute the imported lemon juice for its newly-launched Minute Maid Nimbu Fresh lemon drink with a local variety, but not immediately.
“It takes time to identify the farms and to grow the kind of lemon fruit we need. Currently we import the juice,” company chief executive T. Krishnakumar told Inditop on the sidelines of a press meet here Monday to announce the launch of Minute Maid Nimbu Fresh.
The new product has been launched in two packs — a 400ml bottle priced at Rs.15 and a one-litre bottle at Rs.45.
A company official told IANS the juice is imported from Israel and the concentrate made at the company’s Pune plant, and then sent to Coca-Cola plants at Gangaikondan in Tamil Nadu and Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh.
According to Krishnakumar, the company planned to reach the new product to 35,000 outlets in Tamil Nadu by March and 90,000 outlets across the country in a phased manner.
“The Indian juice market is estimated at 660 million cases per annum, of which fresh juice accounts for 570 million cases and packaged ones 90 million cases,” Krishnakumar said.
The fruit beverage market has three categories — fruit drink (pulp content up to 20 percent), nectar (pulp 20-80 percent) and juice (100 percent fruit juice).
The lemon juice content in Minute Maid Nimbu Fresh brand is 5.7 percent.
About the company’s investment programme, Krishnakumar said Coca-Cola India would invest $250 million in three years. “The investment phase started last year.”
He declined to spell out the amount already invested.
