Flavour meets footprint

Rasna is mixing emotion with infra in its growth recipe

- GEETIKA SRIVASTAVA

RASNA — THE 49-YEAR-OLD powdered drink mix synonymous with summer holidays, birthday parties and after-school refreshment — is hoping physical expansion and a flavour boost will push the needle and keep it relevant in a market dominated by ready-to-drink pops, colas and juices.

To start with, Rasna Group will improve its production capacity with a new manufacturing facility in Patna and push for deeper penetration in eastern India, a region it sees as key to its growth. "Eastern India is growing in all FMCG categories. I believe that as food companies, we need to be where the consumers are," says Piruz Khambatta, chairman of Rasna. "Food processing can do for rural India what IT did for urban India," he adds.