Rasna beefing up distribution

Rasna Pvt Ltd, the Rs 275-crore (Rs 2.75 billion) soft drink concentrate major, is focussing on ramping up its distribution network to 20 lakh (2 million) outlets from the existing 16 lakh (1.6 million) by year-end.

The company, which has a market share of 93 per cent in soft drink concentrates, plans to set up 2,000 Rasna vending machines across the country in another year-and-a-half. At present, there are about 500 Rasna vending machines in 10 cities.

"We believe that, in future, vending machines will be a good source of revenue for us," said Rajesh Mehta, general manager - marketing.

As of now, the vending machines offer five flavours of Rasna JucUp and three flavours of Rasna ShakeUp. They also offer Insta cardamom tea and coffee. The company plans to introduce lemon iced tea and cold coffee at these machines in near future.

Each vending machine costs approximately Rs 30,000 and the company is looking at installing them at heavy traffic zones like railway stations, schools, supermarkets and petrol pumps.

"Apart from supplying premixes to our company's vending machines, we also supply premixes to the already installed vending machines of other companies. Although this contributes to a very small percentage of our total revenues, we see the contribution increasing from this sector in future," Mehta said.

The company is also looking at penetrating the rural markets further through special rural vans covering more than 3,000 potential routes in 16 states across the country. Rasna will also be employing additional man-force in the form of 500 cycle salesmen.

Andhra Pradesh contributes to 17 per cent of Rasna's total market share and the company earns 65 per cent of its total revenues in summer. Rasna is looking at a year-on-year growth of 20 per cent this fiscal.

On Monday, the company launched a new range of products -- Rasna Ghar Ka -- across the country.

Mehta said the company is launching three new flavours in the Rasna Ghar Ka range -- Nimbupani, Jaljira and Aampanna.