Coke’s Burn to fire up rivalry in energy drinks

Beverage giant Coca-Cola is seeking to fire up its portfolio in India with Burn, a new energy drink that is currently available in 63 other countries.

But company officials were tightlipped on the timing of Coke’s second-shot at the Rs 500 crore energy drink market in India. The company had earlier attempted to make a mark in the segment with its energy brand Shock.

Burn is a pineapple-flavoured drink and will rival Pepsi’s energy drink brand SoBe (which was launched in October 2008), apart from other dominant players in the segment such as Red Bull and Power Horse.

Pepsi’s Burn also follows an earlier move by the company to sell juice-based brand Vitingo in some parts of the country. “The orange-flavoured Vitingo, fortified with micro-nutrients, was launched in Orissa on a test case,” said a Coca Cola India spokesperson.

A company spokesperson, however, refused to comment. “I cannot talk on any specific brand. We are always on the lookout for opportunities and our brand portfolio is designed to satisfy various needs and states of the consumers — hydration, energy, enjoyment or simply having fun,” he added.

The firm has a global portfolio of five energy drinks — Vitamin Energy that was acquired as a part of the Glaceau buy, Full Throttle Fury, Powerplay, TaB Energy and Burn.

In a bid to consolidate its position in the Rs 7,500 crore juice segment, Coca-Cola will also nationally launch another orange drink, Minute Maid, in tetra-packs in the coming months. The drink is currently available in 200 ml tetra packs in some parts of West Bengal and UP, the spokesperson said.

Deepali Shukla, marketing manager, nutrition & wellness division, Amway India, said, “Growing health awareness and changing lifestyle is fuelling the energy drink market. We are expecting a good growth for Amway XL. According to Shukla, carbonated drink has witnessed a decline of 5% since last two years, while the energy drink is growing at 50%.

In the next 4-5 years, Amway aims to garner 50% market share in the energy drink segment.

She further added that the energy drinks market in India is estimated at Rs 500 crore and is expected to reach Rs 1,100 crore in the next 4-5 year.