Globally, seltzers are made with an infusion of juices and exciting flavors. It has already emerged as the fastest-growing category in the Western countries, according to reports. Historically, people from Niederselters, a town in Germany, bottled and exported their naturally carbonated water in 1787, and Americans called it seltzer. In the 19th century, people started adding seltzer to milk either as a refreshment or a tonic to cure diseases one hundred years back.
Amul adds real fruit juice and milk solids to make it a fizzy drink of choice for the new generation. It will allow Indian consumers to taste tomorrow, today, as the company explained in a press statement.
Indian beverage market has a plethora of categories like carbonated soft drinks, milk based beverages, juices, and nectars, ready to drink coffee, and more. Amul is the market leader in dairy beverages and has an impressive portfolio comprising of sub-categories such as flavored milk, cold coffee, milkshakes, smoothies, traditional drinks like Kadhai doodh, Gur doodh, honey doodh, Immunity boosting range like Haldi doodh, Tulsi doodh, ginger doodh, Ashwagandha doodh, dairy-based mocktails, cultured drinks like buttermilk and lassi.
“To strengthen our beverage product portfolio, we had launched a blend of milk and real fruit juice under the brand ‘Tru’ in Feb 2019,” said Amul. The product, available in four flavors – Mango, Orange, Litchi, and Apple, has received very good feedback from the market and got a 10% market share in the first quarter of launch.
One of the huge beverage categories is carbonated soft drinks. As such, there has not been much innovation in this category. Consumers are also moving away from sugary beverages that only contain water, sugar, and fizz. Amul researched deep into this category and figured that seltzer, which originated more than 300 years ago, has never been explored in India. Before the advent of modern medicine, naturally carbonated water that bubbled to the surface in springs around the world and spas sprung up where visitors could “take the waters” was considered a powerful medicine.
As seltzer shares an old connection with milk and dairy, Amul has launched seltzer to offer consumers a healthy and tasty beverage. According to the company, Amul TRU Seltzer is the finest blend of dairy, fruits, and fizz. The products contain the goodness of dairy, real fruit juice, and exciting fizz. Therefore, it is much more than just sugar and water, which every brand has been selling to Indian consumers. This product is suitable for consumption by all age groups. India’s said to be first Seltzer, Amul TRU Seltzer is currently available in two flavors – lemon and orange. It is attractively priced at just Rs 15 for a 200ml PET bottle.
Orange Seltzer contains 10% orange juice, no artificial color, flavor, and 10% added sugar. As compared to this, the leading orange competitor brand has 13% added sugar and synthetic food color. Similarly, Lemon Seltzer contains 5% real lime juice, no artificial color, flavor, and just 9% added sugar. As compared to this, the leading lemon competitor has 12% added sugar.
While real fruit juice is a big plus, both Amul Tru Orange and Lemon Seltzer said to have the goodness of milk solids.
Amul has created an attractive communication and point of sale promotion strategy for this new brand. Advertising campaign highlighting the product proposition “Dairy, Fruity, Fizzy” shall also be aired on TV and social media. The teaser campaign in hoardings across the state “Is it a Cola?”, “Is it a Shake?” and “Is it a Juice?” a week before launch had created a lot of curiosity and had gone viral. A very informative website also has been launched.
Having launched two flavors this week in the Gujarat market, Amul will soon roll out many new variants like Cola, Jeera, and Apple, all made from real fruit, in PET bottles, and shall introduce all flavors in smart can packaging.
