Happy to be India's first kids' beverage brand: Britvic

Simon Stewart, International Managing Director, Britvic

Simon Stewart, International Managing Director, Britvic, says these flavours have been tailor-made for the Indian market. The company has partnered with Narang Group to bottle and distribute Fruit Shoot in India.

In a conversation with Business Today, Stewart talks about the company's plans for the Indian market. Edited excerpts from an interview:

Q. WHAT MADE YOU LOOK AT THE iNDIAN MARKET?

A. India is a growing market and there is also a gap in the market when it comes to kids' beverage brands. We are happy to be the country's first kids beverage brand.

Q. THE FRUIT SHOOT VARIANTS AVAILABLE IN INDIA HAVE BEEN TAILOR-MADE FOR THIS MARKET. DOES THAT MEAN THAT THEY ARE NOT AVAILABLE ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD?

A. These are unique to India. The variants of Fruit Shoot available in France are different from that of Great Britain. We are a consumer-driven company and our offerings are largely based on consumer insights that we get in each market. The four flavours that we have rolled out are based on the insights that we got from an extensive qualitative research which involved our target audience who are kids as well as their mums. Mango is one flavour that we don't sell in any other market. Even the Rs 30 pricing is an outcome of consumer research.

Q. WHICH FLAVOURS WORK BETTER IN THE UK AND WHICH ONES WORK BETTER IN OTHER PARTS OF EUROPE OR THE US?

A. In the UK, it is orange which does well; in France it is multi-vitamin water, and in the US the blueberry flavour sells the best.

Q. WHAT MARKET SHARE DOES FRUIT SHOOT HAVE IN THE UK?

Kids' beverage constitutes 35 per cent of the total beverage market in the UK, and we are market leaders in that segment. The brand has a resale value of 135 million pound in the UK. We are the largest selling kid's beverage brand in France, too.

Q. BRITVIC HAS A LARGE PORTFOLIO OF BEVERAGE BRANDS. WOULD YOU BE LOOKING AT ROLLING THEM OUT IN INDIA SOON?

A. We are always looking for opportunities in different markets. However, we will first look at consolidating Fruit Shoot in India.

Q. WILL THE BOTTLING BE DONE IN INDIA? WHICH ARE THE MARKETS YOU ARE GOING TO BE AVAILABLE IN?

A. Yes, it going to be done here in association with our partner Narang Group. It will be locally produced at Mysore in Karnataka. India is a huge diverse market and we are going to go step by step with our partners, Narang Group. We will first be available in the 10 major cities and will then move on to 35 cities.

Q. YOU HAVE PRICED YOUR PRODUCT AT A PREMIUM PRICE POINT OF RS 30. DOES THAT MEAN YOU WILL TARGET ONLY MODERN RETAIL STORES?

A. We will be available in both traditional and modern retail stores... In fact, in all important stores.

Q. FRUIT SHOOT WAS RECALLED IN THE UK IN 2012. WHAT WERE THE LESSONS?

A. The recall was to do with the cap of the bottles [the product was recalled because of a packaging safety issue]. If I were to say what the learnings are, I would say that the learning is we have a huge responsibility of the health and safety of the children. It wasn't life threatening, but it's our responsibility to offer absolute top-quality products. The recall had a financial impact on us also as it resulted in a 25 million pound hit on our profits.