Thirsty for more: Bisleri eyes Rs 5,000 crore revenue by 2022, says director Anjana Ghosh

Bisleri, the well-known packaged drinking bottle company, is looking to triple its revenue from the current Rs 1,500 crore to Rs 5,000 crore by 2022, said Anjana Ghosh, Director, Bisleri International.

In a freewheeling chat with Moneycontrol, Ghosh said the growth will be driven by carbonated drinks along with few more products that will be added to Bisleri’s portfolio.

Bisleri produces approximately 15 crore bottles a month.

Launched in 2016, under the carbonated segment, Bisleri POP was available in four variants but later the company had withdrawn the brand in February 2018.

Bisleri is mulling reformulating the Bisleri POP and bring it back under the same brand. The company is planning to launch two new products — Pineapple Juice and Lemon Juice with a twist of fizz.

Bisleri plans to invest over Rs 80 crore in marketing and advertising campaigns for its latest entrant in the carbonated category, Bisleri Fonzo.

Excerpts:

Q) How is the demand for the products that you have recently launched?

Bisleri POP was something we had launched a year and a half back. It was more into flavors. But with Fonzo, we have changed that line of production and come up with actual fruit juice. So, Fonzo is actual fruit juice and fizz. It is a new combination. End of the year, we will be adding two more products. Bisleri POP (carbonated offering) would be shifting to Pineapple Juice, Lemon Juice, and Fizz. This will be a different category. This is a natural sweetener which is fruit juice. It is doing really very well. It’s been just three months since the launch. No other product is available in this category, so we see a lot of demand.

Q) Have you set any revenue targets for the company? 

Currently, we are on Rs 1,500 crore in revenue. We have set our vision 2022 to be Rs 5,000 crore. That will have our CFD (computational fluid dynamics) and we may add on a few more categories into the portfolio of Bisleri.

Q) What is your take on the report, led by Orb Media, a US-based non-profit, which claimed 90 percent of bottled water from leading brands is contaminated by microplastics?

The non-peer reviewed study released by Orb Media is not based on sound science, and there is no scientific consensus on testing methodology or the potential health impacts of microplastics particles. Therefore, this study's findings do nothing more than unnecessarily scare consumers.

Every Bisleri product is made as per guidelines set by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and WHO (World Health Organisation).

Q) How much investment will you be pumping in for ad campaigns of Fonzo and other products?

For our latest entrant in the CFD category, Bisleri Fonzo, we will be investing Rs 80 crore in marketing and advertising campaigns.

Q) How many bottles of Fonzo are being produced on a monthly basis? Now that summer is over, would you be reducing the production?

Since the launch of this unique drink in the prime summer season, the initial response of consumers has been very positive and motivating for us.

Our consumers pan-India have not only accepted but also liked and demanded Fonzo from retailers and on e-commerce.

Consumers have been on the lookout for a new product and Fonzo gives them the new taste altogether. It is important that even when the summer season is over, we continue producing Fonzo to get our consumers habituated to the new taste.

Q) Where does  Bisleri source its water from?

Currently, we are using borewells. Some plants use tanker water.

Q) Coming to social issues, the Maharashtra government has banned plastic but Bisleri has been allowed to use plastic bottles provided they are recycled. Bisleri has launched an initiative called Bottles for Change. Tell us about this initiative.

For the last two to three years, plastic has taken the world’s attention. Everybody is talking about plastic and everybody is talking pollution and has gone negative for plastic. People are missing out on the basic problem of litter. So actually there is a problem of littering and not plastic.

Plastic is made from bio-petroleum by-product. Plastic is made without exploiting natural resources. If plastic is non-biodegradable, it is the curse of plastic. There is also a positive side of plastic that it can be recycled for more than 50 times. So, why not use plastic and put it for recycling?

Our  entire communication for 'bottle for change' is to create an awareness that plastic is not bad, your habits are. So change your habits. Use plastic as much as possible, as there is no alternative. Plastic has an afterlife. As soon as you finish using the plastic, please send it for recycling. As a user, I must pledge and see to it that 100 percent of my plastic is not going in to waste but going into recycling. This initiative has been done all over. We are approaching schools, colleges, housing societies. We are also planning to do media plan on plastic that plastic is not bad but your habits are.

Q) Have you tied up with any companies for this initiative?

Currently, we are working only in Mumbai. We have really not scaled it up to but this month we will scale up to five cities. Currently, we have 4,000 companies who are with us because they use Bisleri bottles.

All those 4,000 companies have been approached one-to-one. Out of them, 400 companies have already pledged that the plastic they collect in their office will go for recycling.

Currently, in all wards, we have tied up with all waste-pickers and NGOs who are working with them. We also feel plastic will not come out of the homes, it has to be pulled out or bought out.

Q) Another concern for India is the water crisis. What is your take on that since your business and products are water-dominated?

We have been concreting a lot of India. It is not getting soaked and water levels are depleting.

The government and water agencies are working towards that and Bisleri, as a brand, has also started rainwater harvesting. We were conscious of the fact that we are using two materials, water and plastic, which will soon come under fire.