Manpasand to take on cola giants with fruit drink

Fruit drink maker Manpasand Beverages, which successfully launched its carbonated fruit drink Fruits Up in Gujarat and Mumbai last year, plans to take on multinational cola brands by expanding sales across the country.

The Vadodara-based company, which is likely to go public this year, has established a presence in tier 2 and 3 cities as well as in rural markets with its Mango Sip drink. The plan now is to boost business in metros with Fruits Up.

Manpasand also plans to double manufacturing capacity from the current 600,000 litres a day next fiscal by setting up a new plant in Ambala, Haryana. At present, it has plants in Vadodara, Varanasi and Dehradun.

“We will require additional capacity to meet the market demand throughout the year. Hence, we will invest around ₹140 crore to double our capacity next fiscal,” Dhirendra Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, told BusinessLine .

The company plans to raise around ₹400 crore from the initial public offering.

It has filed the draft red-herring prospectus with the market regulator for the IPO, and has appointed Kotak Mahindra Capital Company and India Infoline as investment bankers to the issue.

“The proceeds from the IPO will be used for expansion and debt repayment,” Singh added.

Currently, private equity Players SAIF Partners and Aditya Birla PE hold some 32 per cent stake in Manpasand, which makes about six lakh litres of beverages a day.

The company’s MangoSip brand, which has 14 per cent fruit mix, has annual sales of about ₹300 crore.

The Fruits Up has 17 per cent fruit mix and is available in three flavours — orange, grape and lemon.

“Considering the health aspect and value for money, consumers from all income groups are turning to the fruit-based carbonated drink,” Singh said.

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