Following the recent news that Indian dairy giant Anand Milk
Union Limited (Amul) has entered the packaged food juices segment
by launching new brand ‘Tru’ in four flavors – Mango, Orange,
Apple and Lychee, in collaboration with Almond Branding,
Sumit Chopra, Consumer Research Director at GlobalData, offers
his view:
“While innovation has always been in the DNA of Amul,
its business model relied more on higher milk procurement,
continuous expansion and new product development. The company had
been scouting for opportunities to diversify beyond its core
‘milk & milk products’. With focus on operational efficiency,
it divided its distribution network into four different verticals
– ambient, chilled, frozen and fresh. Amul plans to leverage the
brand’s pan-India distribution network including 10,000 dealers
and 10 lakh retailers to diversify into new categories. The
company expanded its product portfolio with chocolate-based
products over the last couple of years and now in collaboration
with Almond Branding launching packaged fruit juices under the
new brand ‘Tru’.
“Despite being strongly positioned in the market it
serves and reported a turnover of over US$4.8bn in last financial
year, Amul was firming up plans to offer healthier, more
nutritious fruit juices at competitive prices vis-à-vis
competitors. The move seems more of a strategic effort and broad
push as it opens doors to new age health-conscious consumers. It
reflects an emerging trend for portfolio consolidation and the
company’s commitment to not losing its focus on its core
categories and directing investment in the categories where it
feels confident. The calculative move to offer ‘Amul Tru’ in 200
ml pet bottles is expected to create excitement around its brand
and allows it to compete with existing established brands such as
Real and Tropicana.
“Amul’s entry into the fast-growing fruit-based
beverages space comes at a time when companies such as Dabur,
ITC, PepsiCo and Patanjali are scaling up presence in the
category by launching new variants and products with improved
formulation. Despite this, it will be interesting to see how
Amul’s move will shake up its rivals and further put competition
in the soft drinks sector.”
