Home Economy NourishCo hopes for Rs.700 crore business

NourishCo hopes for Rs.700 crore business

By IANS,

Chennai : NourishCo Beverages Ltd, an equal joint venture between Tata Beverages and PepsiCo, is looking at a business of Rs.700 crore over the next five years by expanding its product portfolio, said a Tata group official.

Launching the nutrient-based packaged water Tata Water Plus here Thursday, Tata Beverages vice chairman R.K.Krishnakumar said: “We expect the joint venture company (NourishCo) to touch a turnover of Rs.700 crore by 2016 by when the product portfolio would have enhanced.”

He said NourishCo would launch variety of healthy products over the next 18-24 months.

Tata Water Plus comes in two variants -fortied with zinc and chromium- and is priced at Rs.16 per 750 ml pet bottle.

Initially launched in Tamil Nadu, the product will be introduced in other markets over the next three years.

According to Kumar, NourishCo is asset light and was set up with an initial investment of Rs.50 crore. Further investments would be made in line with the market growth.

The production of Tata Water Plus is outsourced to a manufacturer here with a production capacity of 63 kilolitres per day and the second unit will come up in Madurai.

According to Manu Anand, chairman and ceo of PepsiCo India, the new product will not eat into the sales of Aquafina bottled water from his company as Tata Water Plus is a niche product targeting the mid and high end markets.

NourishCo has now three products on its shelves – Tata Gluco Plus (a glucose based lemon drink), Himalayan Natural Mineral Water and the newly launched Tata Water Plus.