Manpasand Beverages plans to expand retail presence.

Fruit-drinks maker Manpasand Beverages is planning to augment its retail presence to around three million outlets in the next five years from 7.75 lakh outlets now, said Abhishek Singh, Director, Manpasand Beverages.

To enable this, the company recently entered into a 10-year distribution pact with Parle Products. In the last 10 years, the company has opened six lakh outlets. Post the tie-up with Parle, it has added 175,000 outlets in a span of nine months.

Speking about the tie-up, Singh said: “Parle products are available in every nook and corner of the country and our tie-up with the company is the biggest thing that can happen to a small firm like ours.”

The company currently has 400 super stockists and 4,000 distributors, and will need 10,000 distributors to reach its goal of three million outlets, he said.

“Outside India, there are many tie-ups happening...two bigger companies come together, share network, and do a lot of projects together. But it has not been replicated in India successfully. I thought of replicating a similar model in the FMCG sector. My products are in the range of Rs. 5-10 and tied up with bigger company’s distribution network. This has made a win-win situation for both,” he said.

This agenda of three million outlets will ensure that the company’s products move up in ranks, with rise in sales and in market share, he added.

He said, Parle’s distribution strength was the major factor underpinning its decision to tie up with them. However, Manpasand will also rely on its own distribution channels to achieve the target.

He said, the growth is mainly driven from tier-2 and tier-3 cities.

Out of the nine brands, its flagship MangoSip, contributes nearly 70 per cent of its revenue, followed by Fruits Up, 20-22 per cent and other seven brands filling up the rest.

The cheap pricing adopted by the company, combined with the availability of its products in small quantities are factors that have worked in its favour, particularly in non-urban areas, he said.

The company’s products are available in packs ranging in size from 80 ml to 2 litre, with the pricing between Rs. 5 and Rs. 95 .

Being a pure play company in beverages, he said that the company plans to concentrate only on liquids and beverages.

HBL