Reliance Consumer enters hydration beverage category; ups the game for Tata, Dabur | Company Business News

New Delhi: Reliance Consumer Products Ltd (RCPL), the consumer products arm of Reliance Industries, launched Raskik Gluco Energy on Monday, marking its entry into the hydration category. 

Priced at ₹10, the product is set to intensify competition in the mass-market beverage segment, going up against players like Tata Consumer Products, PepsiCo, Dabur, and Coca-Cola. 

In 2023, Reliance Consumer Products Ltd (RCPL), the FMCG arm and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd (RRVL), had acquired beverage brand Raskik. Founded in 2019 by Vikas Chawla, the former managing director, south east Europe, Coca-Cola, Raskik initially offered coconut water and rust-based drinks.

RCPL has been acquiring a clutch of homegrown and overseas companies to build a sizeable packaged consumer products business. In 2022, RIL acquired Campa Cola, a once-popular substitute for established cola brands, from the New Delhi-based Pure Drinks Ltd. 

Campa Cola was reintroduced at ₹10 for 200 ml pack. The move disrupted the market prompting competitors such as Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Dabur India and Tata Consumer Products to recognize its impact on the broader beverages category. Currently, these competitors sell the same pack for ₹20. 

Also Read: Charanjit Singh: Campa Cola’s forgotten founder who battled Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and India Today

RCPL is re-positioning Raskik as a master brand for juices and functional beverages, the company said. RasKik Gluco Energy will be rolled out pan-India and priced at ₹10 per single serving. The product will soon be available in a home consumption pack of 750 ml.

RasKik brand currently offers mango, apple, mixed fruit, coconut water and nimbu pani variants. The company plans to  expand the portfolio by launching more “still” beverages going forward.

Also Read: Consumer goods companies go full throttle on rural hiring

“The idea is to create Raskik as a master drink brand in hydration and juices. Everything under still beverages will fall under this. When we acquired the brand, it was still niche; from there on we have started a brand with a vision that it will be spread across categories,” said Ketan Mody, chief operating officer, Reliance Consumer Products Ltd.

Analysts said RCPL’s entry into the hydration category could be “potentially negative” for Dabur India and Tata Consumer Products Ltd. “We expect weak sales numbers for Nourishco of Tata Consumer; Dabur fruit juice business will anyway be weak (in the December quarter), ” said Abneesh Roy of Nuvama Institutional Equities.

Tata Consumer Products sells hydrating drinks under the Tata Gluco+ brand priced at ₹10. Last year, Dabur India launched Dabur GlucoPlus-C priced at ₹10 for a 160 ml PET bottle in select markets, marking its entry in the ready-to-drink glucose category.

India’s non-alcoholic beverages market is set to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 8.7% to reach ₹1.47 trillion by 2030, according to a report from economic policy think tank Icrier.

RPCL also sells products under the staples, biscuits, beverages, confectionery and chocolates categories. In home and personal care, it has products such as soap, laundry, dish wash, toilet cleaner and floor cleaners.

Also read | Rural India’s FMCG basket expands as digital push, income growth reshape spending