Thursday, Apr 18, 2019

--Source: ITC launches new juice variants at 45 rupees/300 ml pack
--ITC launches juice variants at 99 rupees/750 ml pack
--ITC ups Dark Fantasy Bourbon biscuit price by 7.7% in Apr

By Yaruqhullah Khan

NEW DELHI - ITC Ltd has launched three new variants of B Natural juice, taking another step towards achieving its aim of securing 10-12% market share in the packed juices and fruit beverages segment.
  
The cigarettes-to-shampoo maker has launched three variants of B Natural juice--Himalayan Mixed Fruit, Ratnagiri Alphonso and Dakshin Pink Guava--to boost its revenue from the segment, market participants told Cogencis. 
 
ITC has launched all three juices in two sizes--300 ml and 750 ml at 45 rupees and 99 rupees per unit, respectively.

ITC's B Natural is a 1-bln-rupee brand, and is growing 25% annually, according to the company's annual report. The company has around 7% market share in the 25-bln-rupee juices and fruit beverages market, analysts said.

The Indian packed juice and fruit beverage market, growing 13-14% annually, is dominated by players such as PepsiCo India Ltd's Tropicana and Dabur India Ltd's Real brands.

Dabur's Real juice is priced at 99 rupees for 1,000 ml and 20 rupees for a 200-ml pack, while Hector Beverages Pvt Ltd's Paper Boat juices are priced at 30 rupees for a 250-ml pouch, and 130 rupees for a 1,000-ml pack. PepsiCo's Tropicana juices are also priced at 20 rupees for a 200-ml pack and 100 rupees for 1,000 ml.
 
The new products launched are in line with ITC's mission to move away from making juices from concentrates, which are mostly imported, and leveraging the strength of its agriculture division to directly source fruit from farmers and convert pulp into juice. 
 
In December, ITC had launched its ready-to-drink, milk-based beverage Sunfeast Wonderz Milk.  
 
Apart from the new launches, the company has increased prices of its Dark Fantasy Bourbon biscuits in April by 7.7%, and is expected to raise prices across biscuit segments in the coming few weeks, market participants said. 
 
At 1405 IST, shares of ITC were down 0.7% at 305 rupees on the National Stock Exchange.  End
 
IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT
 
Edited by Avishek Dutta

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