What is Bisleri? Why is the news of Bisleri’s acquisition by Tata Consumer Products important?

By Soutrik BanerjeeTuesday November 29, 2022

Bisleri International was previously called Parle Bisleri and the brand has been dominant in the Indian market for ages. The company was incorporated by Jayantilal Chauhan in 1984. Bisleri is a brand familiar to almost every Indian. The company is famous for its packaged drinking water, which Jayantilal acquired in 1969. It is also a company that sells soft drinks.

The company has its most profitable market in India which comprises 135 plants that are currently operational with about 3,000 distributors along with approximately 5,000 trucks for distribution. Due to the advent of technology, Bisleri is also sold in several online retailers along with e-commerce platforms.

A Brief Background :

Bisleri was originally created by Felice Bisleri in Italy. This was the year 1965, when an Italian doctor, Cesari Rossi collaborated with an Indian businessman, Khushroo Suntook, and brought the innovative brand to the Indian market. A manufacturing plant was set up in Thane and Bisleri was then sold only to luxury hotels and several restaurants, based in Mumbai. The Bisleri company had two variants, which were bubbly and still.

But by 1969, the company was struggling with several roadblocks to scale and develop in India and wanted to part its ways with the Indian market. This was when Jayantilal Chauhan from the Parle Group acquired the company for about 4 lakh (then roughly $ 50,000).

The next few years proved to be beneficial for Bisleri as the company launched products like Maaza, a drink made from the pupils of Mango. Maaza getting launch in 1976 took the company to new heights of success and development. The following year in 1977, the Coca-Cola Company exited the Indian market which also followed Parle Bisleri to dive into the carbonated drinks industry with multiple products like Thums Up, Limca, which is a lemon-flavored drink, and also Gold Spot, an orange-flavored refreshing drink.

Due to India’s economic liberalization in 1991, the Coca-Cola company again came to the Indian market. Parle Bisleri 1993 sold their carbonated drinks division like Thums Up, Limca, Gold Spot, and a few others to Coca-Cola for about Rs. 400 crores (about $ 127.2 million). The Maaza trademark in the Indian market was also sold to Coca-Cola along with 15 years of a non-compete agreement. Parle could not launch competitive products till the year 2008.

Bisleri around 2006, sold the Maaza trademark to the US and European markets to companies Infra Beverages along with House of Spies. Reports suggest the deal be finalized with an undisclosed amount. In 2010, Bisleri launched Vedica, a bottle of spring water sourced from the foothills of Himalaya in Uttarakhand.

In 2016, Bisleri re-entered the carbonated drinks industry with their Pop lineup that included Limonata, Fonzo Pina Colada, and Spyci. Followed by the pandemic in 2020, also launched its hand sanitizers in 2021.

Why is the TCPL deal with Bisleri crucial?

Ramesh Chauhan, chairman of Bisleri group is having a discussion with Tata Consumer Products Limited (TCPL) along with several big players to sell Bisleri for further expansion and development. Ramesh being a phenomenal industrialist and visionary, told this a few days ago to the Press Trust of India.

Reports suggest that TCPL might acquire Bisleri for about Rs. 7,000 crores. But Ramesh says that the Bisleri Tata deal is not finalized and he is also talking with other major companies with similar interests in the acquisition. TCPL also stated that they are following the necessary guidelines and will officially announce any news, based on any conclusive agreements.

Tata Consumer Products Limited was formed with the collaboration of Tata Chemicals and Tata Global beverages. The company is aiming to lead the FMCG sector with solid use of innovation and technology. TCPL currently sells products like Himalayan Mineral Water and Tata Copper Plus.