Rasna through innovations and diversification is trying to stay relevant even now, with its latest move being in the natural food-products space
Third-generation owner Piruz Khambatta has been taking Rasna in various directions
A soft drink concentrate named Jaffe, made by an Ahmedabad-based company set up in the 1940s, is today one of India’s most iconic brands: Rasna. Initially set up by Phirojshaw Khambatta as a B2B entity, the company that made Jaffe for B2C renamed the brand as Rasna in 1976. Today, it enjoys an 80 percent market share in the soft drink concentrate market.
What has enabled Rasna to survive competition and the changing economic landscape pre- and post-liberalisation? “Two things have kept us relevant even now: Innovation and good marketing. We have innovated with a lot of new product offerings, flavours and formats while retaining the same core. We have ensured that Rasna is as alive and kicking in the third generation as it was in the first,” says Piruz Khambatta, 50, chairman, Rasna Private Limited, and Phirojshaw’s grandson.
Rasna entered the market at an affordable price point of ₹5 per box with concentrate in a bottle and powder that had to be mixed with sugar and water. It made 32 glasses of the drink and was the cheapest concentrate available in the market then. It remains one even today. But some things have changed. “I can’t say that we are using the same formulations that my grandfather was using. We have reformulated the product and made it more fruity and natural. Apart from that, we have also diversified the basket to include a lot of different products,” says Piruz.
(This story appears in the 01 March, 2019 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)