By Ratna Bhushan
Copyright indiatimes
iStockRepresentative Image
Reliance Consumer Products plans to partner with dozens of regional water makers for its new mass-priced water brand Campa Sure, which could disrupt the intensely competitive and fragmented ₹30,000-crore packaged water category with aggressive pricing. “We are in the process of collaborating with and signing partnerships with multiple regional packaged water firms for bottling and to ensure governance standards for smaller brands,” T Krishnakumar, director of Reliance Consumer Products, the group’s FMCG arm, told ET.The partnerships will be structured on bottling, technology, and possible branding tie-ups, he said. The company is not planning acquisitions of partners, he said.Campa Sure, launched with prices starting from ₹5 for 250-ml bottles, is expected to be rolled out starting with the Northern markets over the next fortnight.Its bigger packs are priced 20-30% lower than existing national players. A one-litre Campa Sure bottle, for example, is sold for ₹15 compared to ₹20 at which category leader Bisleri, Coca-Cola’s Kinley, and Aquafina from PepsiCo sell at. Two-litre packs of Campa Sure are priced at ₹25 compared to ₹30-35 for rivals.Live EventsIndustry executives said Bisleri, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are planning to ramp up branding and consumer promotion campaigns for water to hold on to their market share. The latter two have, so far, allocated only negligible spends on marketing and advertising of their respective brands.The pricing strategy is similar to Campa soft drinks that were introduced at ₹10 for 200 ml bottles, forcing PepsiCo and Coca-Cola to drop prices in select packs or launch smaller cans and bottles at lower prices.”Across all businesses, we will try to ensure that we keep pricing, which is relevant for the consumer. For water, the approach is just not a tactical move or to disturb the market,” Krishnakumar said. “By partnering with regional and local manufacturers, we can ensure benchmark standards, democratise the category, and help curb the growing threat of counterfeit bottled water products.”He said Reliance is in talks to partner with about two dozen players in the North where the rollout of Campa Sure will start.Reliance is selling another packaged water brand under its staples franchise Independence, which is priced higher than Sure.”We believe we need to have multiple brands for accessing the market, as water is sold in multiple channels and each channel is different from the other,” Krishnakumar said. The roll-out of Campa Sure is tied to the government’s September 22 rollout of GST 2.0, as part of which the GST on packaged water, including natural or artificial mineral waters was slashed to 5% from 18%, leading all players in the category to drop prices.Add as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now!
(You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)
Read More News onReliance Consumer ProductsCampa Surepackaged water categorypricing strategyregional water makersBisleriPepsiCo
(Catch all the Business News, Breaking News, Budget 2025 Events and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.) Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online….moreless
(You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)Read More News onReliance Consumer ProductsCampa Surepackaged water categorypricing strategyregional water makersBisleriPepsiCo(Catch all the Business News, Breaking News, Budget 2025 Events and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.) Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online….moreless
