Nimbu Pani by Coca Cola and Pepsi - Unorganized to branded !!!

A week back we had the news that coke has drawn out plans to introduce Nimbu Panni(lemonade) in the coming summer. Now if Coke is planning on some thing can Pepsi be too far behind, so a couple of days back the news that Pepsi is also planning a similar offering in the market is out.

At a generic level the competition of soft drinks companies is not from each other but from the large untapped unorganized players like the local juice guy who serves fresh juice, or the lemonade made in homes or the road-side vendor. The aim is to convert these consumer who are presently being served by the unorganized market into branded consumers. This was what being attempted till now in the juice market but this attempt to tap the Nimbu Pani market is something new.

One of the main advantages of Nimbu panni served at the roadside vendor, is 'freshness' because the vendor would cut the lemon in front of the customers and then prepare the drink. Second plus would be the price at which the drink is being served. But there are many doubts which would be there in the consumer's mind, in terms of the quality of water or ice being used apart from the general hygiene and cleanliness. Though these would be taken care off  if the same is prepared at home.

The  new packaged nimbu pani from the stable of Coca Cola and Pepsi would have to handle the twin challenge of freshness and price, the one front in which it would score high would be the hygiene. But freshness would be a difficult issue because as soon as some thing is  offered in a packaged form the concept of freshness goes out of the window in spite of all assurances from the company that they will ensure freshness. On the second dimension of pricing, both coke and Pepsi plan to price is quite low, but how low will they be able to sell the drink, looking at the distribution and other marketing costs involved....

If one were to look at earlier examples of trying to introduce packaged drinks like tender coconut the experiences have not been something to write home about in spite of the use of appropriate technology. The reasons attributed to the failure include the fact that for a consumer drinking a fresh coconut water from a vendor is not just a product , but a total experience, when he selects the tender coconut, and it is open in front of him and then he drinks it , versus imagine the opening the cap of a plastic bottle or a a tetra pack....

Will it 'Nimbu Panni' be a success in India ?.....