S Asian markets to taste the thunder as Thums Up goes global

Home-grown cola brand Thums Up will make its international debut by March with brand owner, The Coca-Cola Company, deciding to take it global.

According to T Krishnakumar President, Coca-Cola India and South West Asia, the fizzy drink will initially be introduced in the South Asian markets, that include Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka.

Both versions of Thums Up – the eponymous brand and the Thums Up charged – will be introduced in these markets. Thums Up will be manufactured locally in these countries.

“Coca-Cola has brought global brands to India. But now we are looking to take Thums Up to other parts of south Asia possibly by the end of the first quarter of this year (March),” he told newspersons here on Friday.

The beverage has a presence amongst the Indian diaspora in West Asia. But, this will be the first time that the India division of Coca-Cola will launch the cola overseas to “create equity for the brand” in countries outside India.

While Thums Up continues to be the largest cola brand in India, Sprite – another brand owned by The Coca-Cola Company – tops the carbonated drink segment.

Brand Thums Up

Coca-Cola Co bought Thums Up from Ramesh Chauhan’s Parle in 1993 along with Maaza, Limca, Citra and Gold Spot. While Citra and Gold Spot were discontinued, the other three stayed.

Market sources say that despite Coca-Cola Co investing heavily in promoting and marketing its flagship brand, Coke, it couldn’t beat the home-grown cola brand.

While the entry of Coke and later Pepsi was expected to make life difficult for the home-grown cola, it survived all onslaught. The brand remained popular enough for Coca-Cola to launch sub-brand Thums Up Charged last year.

‘Billion dollar brand’

According to Krishnakumar, Thums Up is expected to be a “billion dollar brand” soon.

“We were expecting Thums Up to be a $1-billion brand (₹6,500 crore) by 2020. But, going by the current response, we are hopeful of getting to that mark sooner,” he said. Thums Up is pegged to be a ₹5,000-crore brand.

In 2016, the Coca-Cola Company had said the mango drink brand, Maaza, will also be a $1-billion brand in the coming days.

Investing in India

The Coca-Cola Company is expected to invest ₹11,000 crore in India. And, according to John Murphy, President of the Asia Pacific Group at The Coca-Cola Company expects India to be amongst its top three markets globally “in due course”.

Currently, India is the sixth largest market after Japan and India is expected to overtake Japan in the next two years.

For its Indian growth story, Coca-Cola Company has identified categories such as sparkling, juice, energy drink, hydration and tea & coffee.

Accordingly, it is readying a line-up of offerings that will include a host of local flavours and regional tastes in the juices and other categories. The ready-to-drink tea remains a long-term bet for the company.

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