Having failed to make an impact with its Saint brand of fruit juices or its lemon drink brand LMN, the Rs 1,500-crore Parle Agro is now trying to make its Appy brand of apple juice have more SKUs (stock keeping units).

The company is planning to push volumes of Appy and bring it on par with its largest selling brand Frooti, the mango drink.

Considering both Frooti and Appy were launched in the same year (1986), it was Frooti which proved to be a leader in its category while Appy, the apple drink brand, lagged behind.

Today the Mumbai-based FMCG company is planning to make Appy have as many SKUs as Frooti, to make it an equally successful brand.

Having extended its beverage portfolio with fruit juice brands like Saint and a lemon drink, LMN , stiff competition in the beverage category has led to Parle Agro registering negligible shares for both the brands.

According to Ms Nadia Chauhan, Joint Managing Director and CMO, Parle Agro, “Frooti is still the largest and most profitable brand in our beverages portfolio but now we are viewing more SKUs for the Appy brand which has equal turnover with Frooti in youth dominated markets such as Pune and Hyderabad and Bangalore.''

Considering Appy had a single SKU (200 ml for Rs 12) in the past, it has now been extended to six SKUs with price points ranging from Rs 5 to Rs 45.

Ms Chauhan says, “Since its launch over two decades ago, Appy has been available in a 200 ml carton. It now has 6 SKUs and is now reaching out to new outlets and consumer points.''

Parle Agro is also leveraging its distribution strengths in the beverage category (it reaches out to 10 lakh outlets). It has also extended its mineral water brand Bailley as a soda recently.

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