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Sindhu J. Bhattacharya

New Delhi , Nov. 4

THE Rs 100-crore FIL Industries Ltd has jumped on to the packaged fruit juice bandwagon with the `Kohinoor' brand and plans to invest Rs 20 crore in the new venture within the first year.

Launched in three flavours initially, Kohinoor will see five more variants by the end of this year.

And in a bid to further expand the Kohinoor portfolio, FIL has signed a technology transfer agreement with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to develop products from the seabuckthorn berry, found mainly in the Ladakh region of Jammu & Kashmir. The company plans to add `Ladakh berry juice' to the Kohinoor portfolio soon.

Seabuckthorn is a highly perishable berry found only in the upper reaches of the Himalayas, with a very short harvesting season and the technology for processing this berry is with DRDO. FIL's Managing Director, Mr Altaf Bukhari, told Business Line, "We have been processing apple pulp for several companies within the country as well exporting it. But after witnessing the high growth rates in the packaged fruit juice market, FIL decided to develop its own brand Kohinoor for the purpose. We plan to invest Rs 20 crore in the venture within one year".

He confirmed that FIL has signed the technology transfer pact with DRDO but said that unlike LFL's Leh Berry, Kohinoor berry will not be sugar-sweetened.

Asked about the target audience for the new brand, he said the company was eyeing a modest 5 per cent of the Rs 200-crore packaged fruit juice market so there was little competition expected from established brands.

At present, PepsiCo's Tropicana and Dabur Foods' Real are market leaders in packaged juices. Recently, Mother Dairy has also entered the fray with the Safal brand. The Delhi-based D S Group is also planning to enter this product category with its Catch brand over the next one year.

Refuting popular perception that seabuckthorn berry is found only in Ladakh, Mr Bukhari said the berry also grows in Uri and Kargil regions of J&K so the company would not be solely dependent on Ladakh for the berry. Besides seabuckthorn, FIL plans to launch orange, mixed fruit and other juice flavours also. He said the company has put up its own tetrapak plant at Srinagar and is also getting its product processed and packaged by third party manufacturers.

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