PETpla.net Insider 07+08 / 2020

BOTTLE MAKING 39 PETplanet Insider Vol. 21 No. 07+08/20 www.petpla.net From beverage manufacturer to market leader Fruit juices for India and further afield by Kay Barton In the Andheri East district of Mumbai, near the airport and the key Western Express Highway transport artery, is the headquarters of the beverage and preform manufacturer Parle Agro. The company, which is owned and managed by the Chauhan family, has 84 production facilities and has a strong claim to being the biggest bottler of beverages in India. Its main lines are Fruit Flavoured Still Drinks (FFSD), along with sparkling fruit drink and packaged drinking water. Parle Agro also supplies preforms and beverages of various types to the local market and more than 50 countries world- wide, including the UK, USA and Canada, Australia, various countries in Africa, the Gulf region, and in Asia. Interview with Parle Agro Pvt. Ltd December 2019 We met: Mr Prakash Chauhan, Executive Chairman Ms Schauna Chauhan, CEO The company has responded to the trend for smaller beverage volumes with a 200ml PET bottle, which has been very well received, and is following up that success with a newly-developed 160ml bottle. We visited the company in the home city of Bollywood and talked to Executive Chairman Prakash Chauhan and his daughter Schauna Chauhan, the cur- rent CEO, about market demands and developments, and why success isn’t possible without taking risks. From the beginning… The history of the Parle Agro Group goes back some 90 years. The com- pany primarily operated in the confec- tionery business; its beverages line was launched in 1959 by founder Jayantilal Chauhan. The business really began to take off with the 1985 launch of “Frooti”, a mango fruit juice drink, under the leadership of now-Chairman Prakash Chauhan. It was joined a year later by “Appy”, an apple-flavoured alternative. Both were packaged in Tetrapak bever- age cartons. “At that time, I was the first person to bring Tetrapak to India. Amajor share of our best-selling beverages are packaged in cartons but PET is clearly the leader in all of our segments, now,” Mr Chau- han explained. The company installed its first PET line in 1996, centred around a 48-cavity Husky LX system and Sidel blow moulder. Parle Agro was among the pioneers of PET in a packaging market that was, at that time, dominated by PVC. “We started by converting the PVC bottles for “Bailley”, our water product, to PET,” he explained. “The Bailley brand had been on the market for three years by then. In 2002, we made Frooti the first fruit juice to be packaged in PET in India. In 2005, we introduced a sparkling fruit drink version of Appy, “Appy Fizz”. Tour Sponsors: Parle Agro’s CEO Schauna Chauhan Executive Chairman Prakash Chauhan