While the ball was set rolling last year when Coke relaunched its bottled mango drink Maaza in a 200-ml carton, the company is getting aggressive on the brand this year by adding three new flavours-orange, mausambi and pineapple flavours-this summer. " We're looking at several options," the CCI spokesperson said.

The move is apparently part of its new thrust wherein the company has decided to explore the potential of other acquired brands and, align itself with the company's new worldwide focus on the non-alcoholic commercial beverages market. While details are not available, the company is likely to source orange concentrate from Nagpur-based fruit drinks company Noga and will continue to contract the packaging of Maaza in cartons to Godrej's Indore-based facility. Manufacturing at other facilities is also not ruled out.

Maaza which was till last year a bottled drink in 200-ml and priced at Rs 10, is so far associated with a mango-based soft drink. By repackaging it into cartons last year and positioning along other brands such as Parle Foods' Frooti, Godrej's Jumpin and Mother Dairy's Safal, CCI joined the fruit drinks bandwagon which though technically has less than 15 per cent juice content but are perceived as a `healthier' alternative to soft drinks.Post relaunch, Maaza is reported to have secured a growth of about 28 per cent and is believed to have gained it a leadership position in the south.

In the later stages, the mango brand is also expected to target home segment with higher packaging options. " We're looking at different pack sizes," the company spokesperson said.

The fruit juices market is split in two main categories in India: fruit juices and fruit drinks market. While technically, any product which contains more than 85 per cent juice comes under fruit juice category and those which have less than 15 to 20 per cent juice content, is classified as fruit drink. The 100 per cent fruit juice market is currently estimated to be around Rs 80 crore and is dominated by Dabur Foods' Real and Pepsi Foods Tropicana. Enkay's Onjus is another player in the segment. The soft drink major's decision to get aggressive on fruits drink market forms part of its worldwide focus on the non-alcoholic commercial beverages market.

``The decision is perhaps prompted by the fact that soft drinks market was declining and to keep its bottomline intact, it should look at other options,'' a market observer said.

CCI's president and CEO Alex von Behr has already echoed the new positioning late last year. At a press briefing held last year, Behr had told mediapersons, ``Our experience in Japan-where a flavoured, health water is a bestseller-and other Asian markets indicate that there is tremendous opportunity for new categories in the domestic market.''

``Taking into account the seasonality factor and peculiarities of the local markets, we will put focus behind specific product categories - water, carbonated soft drink, fruit juices and other future offerings,'' he had added.

Towards that end, Coke's India operations created a new division-Commercial Beverages Department-last year which is currently being headed by Mr Vinay Kapoor. The move is also spurred by the fact that the company has decided to broaden its marketing focus from the Coke brand to explore the potential of other acquired brands. Taking a cue from its Thums Up experience, the company has realised that its home-grown brands are too strong to be ignored.