Having established a presence in the fruit-based milk beverages market over the past year, Amul is now going full-throttle to push its products in the MNC-dominated segment.

Launched last summer, Amul Tru has created a niche for itself, according to RS Sodhi, Managing Director, Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which markets Amul dairy products. The product is well received pan India and will have an increased geographic reach with more variants this summer, he said.

The fruit flavoured still drinks (FFSD) market has a size of about 160 lakh packs per day. At an MRP of ₹10 per pack, the value of the market can be estimated conservatively at ₹5,800 crore annually.

Till last year, Amul was not present in the category, which is dominated by other leading players such as Parle’s Frooti, Coca-Cola’s Maaza and PepsiCo’s Slice.

Fruit plus whey

However, Amul claims its Tru is different from other FFSD products in terms of preparation. According to Sodhi, the beverage contains a mix of whey protein and fruit juices, which makes it protein-rich. Amul Tru costs ₹10 for an 180 ml pack. It has also launched cartons, apart from PET bottles.

“We are procuring the juice concentrate and adding our whey (milk solids) to make the product. So it has fruit plus whey. It is a very big market in India. In the initial year, we have received good response. This season will improve our reach and expand this category,” Sodhi told Businessline .

On the process side, Amul has decided to concentrate on making the final product while it sources readymade fruit-drink concentrate from its suppliers.

“This is a dairy product for us even as the fruit content in the product ranges from 20 to 40 per cent across the current four variants — mango, apple, orange and lychee. It has real fruit with milk. This will expand the entire beverages range. However, our mainstay remains milk processing. We are not into fruit processing,” said Jayen Mehta, Senior General Manager, Planning and Marketing at GCMMF.

Almond Branding has provided end-to-end brand building, packaging design and communication design support to Amul for its first FFSD products. Earlier, Almond Branding had launched the company’s other milk beverages including Amul Kadhai Doodh, Haldi Doodh, Amul Irish Drink and Amul Pina Colada.

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