Packed With Nostalgia

Rasna grew from humble beginnings in Ahmedabad. Over the decades, it has become a soft-drink concentrate leader and a household name, adapting to changing tastes and markets

- • Aditi Ray Chowdhury

Pepsi and Coca-Cola were still some decades away from Indian stores when a bullock cart trundled through the streets of Ahmedabad, stacked with glass bottles of fizzy goli sodas.

Behind it were retired Army officer Phiroja Khambatta and his son Areez, then in his teens.

For Phiroja, it was a modest business. Under Areez, it would grow into Rasna—a name that would become a household staple across India, famous for its 1984 ad film with the tagline "I love you, Rasna". Before Rasna, the company under Phiroja was named Jaffe. In the 1970s, Areez rebranded it and began producing soft-drink concentrates, turning the family venture into a national brand and carving its place in middle-class homes with its affordability. Over the next four decades, it became a part of everyday lives, dominating the soft-drink concentrate market with little real competition.

The company is now led by Areez’s son, Piruz Khambatta, who credits his father for bringing him into the business at an early age. The decision prepared him to chair the company while still young.

“Even today, if a family from a middle-class or a lower-middle-class income group hosts a birthday party for nearly 25-30 kids, the cost of serving them juice or cold drinks will be quite a lot. On the other hand, if you choose Rasna, you can serve both the food and Rasna at the cost of the juice,” says Khambatta, who is chairman of the company.

In Every Corner

Today, Rasna commands 80-90% of India’s soft-drink concentrate market, with a distribution network that spans more than 1.6mn retail outlets. It operates 11 manufacturing units across the country and has expanded its footprint to over 60 countries worldwide. The brand is particularly popular in Africa, appealing both to value-conscious consumers and the health-focused.