The Hindu Business Line : Mapro to bring back Vimto fruit squash

IT was grandpa's favourite drink back in 1912, and now Mapro Foods, the second-largest producer of processed fruit products in Western India, is set to bring back into the country Vimto, the fruit-based beverage brand from the UK.

The Panchgani-based company signed an agreement last month with the £100-million Nichols to manufacture the brand under licence at its facilities. The brand will be available in India in its popular avatar, a mixed fruit squash, beginning March, the CEO of Mapro Foods, Mr Mayur Vora, told Business Line.

Vimto is one of the most widely distributed brands in the world, available in a hundred nations and manufactured across 34 countries. The brand, according to Mr Vora, has had a close association with India; after it was developed by founder John Nichols in 1908, it was launched first in India in 1912.

Under the current agreement, Nichols will supply Mapro with the herbal and fruit extracts that will then be formulated into a mixed fruit squash with Mapro's fruit juices. While it is available in a variety of forms, such as carbonated and non-carbonated drinks, ice-creams and pastries, in the UK, the current offering in India will be limited to squash, Mr Vora said.

Mapro, meanwhile, is all set to significantly expand business, firming up plans to widen its basket of offerings and enter new markets across the country. The expansion will also see capacities go up from the current 2,000 tonnes per annum to 12,000 tonnes by the next fiscal, Mr Vora said.

Mapro is also cooking up plans for the processed fruit and other product segments. On the anvil is a foray into fruit-based toppings, sauces and ketchup that is currently being trial-tested across restaurants in the Panchgani-Mahabaleshwar belt. The company will soon launch a range of preservative-free, high-fruit-content preserves targeted at the top-end of the domestic market, Mr Vora said. Also on retail shelves by the next quarter will be a range of sugar-free jams that will target the growing tribe of diet- and health-conscious urban Indians.

Meanwhile, the company, whose products are available in West Asia, parts of Africa and the US in a limited way, is planning to capture the overseas markets with a range of fruit products, from frozen to ready-to-eat. "The idea is to become the least-cost producer of certain products in the global market," Mr Vora said.

In the domestic market, Mapro plans to broadbase its presence, and will kickstart this with a foray into Bangalore where it will be available in Metro Cash and Carry, beginning March. Next stop in the South will be Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Plans are also afoot to foray into markets in the North and East over the next fiscal, Mr Vora said.

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