Parle Bisleri is planning to set up 25 new bottling plants across the country in FY10 as a part of its growth strategy. The company is also drawing up a dual-marketing penetration strategy to reach out to wider target consumers.

Enthused by its 35% growth in 2008-09, Parle Bisleri is targeting 40% growth this year, said Ramesh Chauhan, chairman & managing director, Bisleri International. ?We are also setting up dedicated channels for our 20-litre jars. With a 60% market share, we are the market leader in this segment,? he added. The company is gearing up to foray into the flavoured water segment in October 2009. Currently, the company has 52 bottling plants across the country.

On the company?s core strategy, Chauhan said, ?Our focus is on increasing our penetration levels to reach out to consumers. Our main goal is to strengthen the direct link between consumers and the company.? To meet the growing consumer demands, Bisleri is setting up new bottling plants in Maharashtra, Kerala, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, UP, Orissa, Jharkhand and north Bengal.

According to Chauhan, Bisleri is investing Rs 50 crore for its expansion plans. ?We are joining hands with our contract packers and franchisees for these expansion plans. We are also expanding the capacity of our existing plants across the country,? he added. Incidentally, Bisleri is doubling up its bottling capacity in Mumbai.

In the Rs 1200-crore organised bottled water market in India, Bisleri today directly competes with Coke’s Kinley, Himalaya and PepsiCo?s Aquafina. Currently, there are over 400 local brands vying for market space in the unorganised sector for bottled water in India.

To sustain its leadership, Bisleri has made a conscious effort to revamp its existing products as well as new variant of Bisleri. ?We have designed and patented the ?Break Away Seal? as a unique selling proposition to counter duplicates. Our brand colour has changed from blue to aqua-green,? said Chauhan.

As part of its marketing strategy, the company?s distribution network is being expanded to meet the changing needs of the consumers. On a national level, there are 2,000 trucks on call for Bisleri, while the number of trucks averages 300 and 250 in the Mumbai and Delhi markets, respectively, said Anjana Ghosh, director, Bisleri International. ?Everyday, nearly 5,000 delivery vans drive out of the 52 strategically located Bisleri bottling plants, carrying over 1 million units of pure, sweet drinking water to replenish the stocks of 2,500 distributors and nearly 6,00,000 retail outlets,? she added.

Pure growth

•The company is drawing up a dual marketing penetration strategy

•Bisleri is trying to increase its growth rate to 40% in FY10 from 35% in FY09

•The company is gearing up to foray into the flavoured water segment in October 2009

•Apart from setting up new plants, the company is also expanding the capacity of its existing plants