How To Start Soft Drink Business In India? [Cold Drink Distributorship]

Table of Contents:

How To Become A Soft Drink Distributor?

Cold Drink Distributorship

Top-Selling Brands

How To Start A Soft Drink Business?

Cold Drink Agency In India

Soft Drink Business In India: Marketing Strategies

Key Takeaways

FAQs On How To Start A Soft Drink Business

How To Become A Soft Drink Distributor?

A cold drink or a soft drink is a drink that usually contains artificial or natural flavouring, carbonated water, and a sweetener. The sweetener may be sugar or its substitute, or a fruit juice or high-fructose corn syrup. Cold drinks may also contain caffeine, artificial colours, preservatives, or other ingredients.

As the weather heats up, so does the sale of cold beverages at stores. Cold drinks are one of the highest sold items. Any big cold drink company serves up billions of servings of its products per day. If you want to start a retail business, you can be one of their retailers, which will enable you to sell these products at your business place.

Cold drinks are a part of people’s life in India and offer refreshment after a hot and tiring day. The cold drink sector is constantly evolving and growing at a break-neck speed with new products being launched each year. Be it an anniversary, a birthday celebration, or a party, all these occasions demand a glass of cold drink.

Cold Drink Distributorship

Cold drinks are commonly sold at convenience stores, restaurants, movie halls, dedicated soft drinks stores, etc. The key to a successful cold drink retail business is to offer customers the brand and flavours they want. Many retailers are testing energy-infused drinks, enhanced waters, or iced teas along with the old carbonated soft drinks. You, as a cold drink retailer, have to offer an expanded range of soft drink options to meet the needs of consumers. There is tremendous growth in energy-boosting beverages such as lemonades and sports drinks.

Top-Selling Brands

The most popular brands of cold drinks in India are Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and Thums Up. Other best selling drinks are the lemon-flavoured Limca, Mountain Dew, and Sprite. At the lower spectrum are brands like Fanta and Mirinda, which have orange essence in them.

How To Start A Soft Drink Business?

Everyone loves the carbonated, sugary, taste of cold drinks, especially during summers. Launching a successful cold drink business takes time and money, and it requires planning to be effective. Consumer preferences are continually changing, and it is critical to stay ahead of those changes. The cold drink industry requires retailers to learn about brand recall, flavour, health consciousness, and other factors that impact their customers. In this article, we will give you tips on how to open a cold drink shop.

Before applying to be a cold drink retailer, you have to first do the paperwork for your business. You may register as a limited liability company, a corporation, a partnership, or a sole proprietorship-all depending on the way that you want to run your business. When you apply to become a retailer, the parent company will ask you about the nature of your business, and you have to provide details like the name and the nature of your enterprise.

Cold Drink Agency In India

1- Find Your Primary Demographic

First, you have to determine that specific segment of the population who may be interested in your cold drinks. Then plan the ideal marketing campaign to reach those customers. You have to research their buying habits. How and when do they consume cold drinks? Where do they purchase? What draws them to those beverages, and which are they consuming most often? You can use a variety of market research methods to target your demographic.

2- Learn About The Brand

Any top cold drink company website has pages of information outlining the company’s history, ethics, marketing methods, latest news, and its vision for the future. If you decide to become a retailer, you have to familiarise yourself with the various products that they offer and then decide what is best for your business. If you visit the website, you can also find out informative articles on how to grow your retail business and the benefits of the partnership with the company.

These big companies work hard to develop local outlets that include groceries, convenience stores, movie theatres, and restaurants. You have to find out which are the most popular brands before you stock them. A brand-conscious customer will always ask for his favourite brand; if you don’t have it, then a business is lost.

3- Research Product Lines

Investigate the list of products on the website. All major cold drink brands have a basket of assorted product offering such as coffee, dairy products, juices, energy drinks, and so on. Visit other retailers and find out if there are any missing items that you can fill in.

Also Read: Best Mineral Water Brands in India

4- Apply On The Website

After deciding upon a particular cold drink brand, you can apply to be appointed a retailer. These days, you can apply for a dealership online. All you have to do is to visit the company website and fill out the form for business inquiries. Alternatively, if there is a tab for 'apply for dealership', you may click on that and select the item you want to take a dealership for and follow the instructions as prompted by the website before you hit the 'submit' button. Soon, it will generate a new business request form.

5- Getting Started

After you have filled the application form online, you will soon get a call from the sales representative of the cold drink company. This representative will inform you about the nearest bottling facility, ask you some questions, and tell you about the company policies. It will help both of you to know whether you are a perfect match or not.

Also Read: Best Juice Brands In India

6- The Sale

Cold drinks go well with food, so it would be a good idea to consider combining the two. For example, you can run a special offer like if a customer buys a burger, he will get a soft drink free; or, purchasing a pizza will get him a discount on a soft drink. You have to select the right graphics and product style to appeal to your customers and communicate that message throughout the store.

Big brands spend a lot on advertisements, so associating with any of them will be beneficial to you. Take hints from successful cold drink companies to understand how they connect with consumers and follow the trends. This industry is responsive to customer psychology changes.

Soft Drink Business In India: Marketing Strategies

Soft drink brands engage celebrities to be their brand ambassadors and have extensive advertising campaigns. Store owners who will sell both carbonated cold drinks as well as other varieties such as juices will enjoy a huge advantage and can make a lot of money from popular products. When it comes to cold drinks, it is the brand recall that helps to get the stock moving off the shelf. Its major features are:

• Competence
• Excitement
• Ruggedness
• Sincerity
• Sophistication

We can associate the numerous cold drink brands with each of the above personalities. A consumer chooses a cold drink based on cost, availability, brand image, health factors, and visibility.

Key Takeaways

If you give a big cold drink brand exclusive rights, you can get a discount on the wholesale price. And if you sign the proper marketing rights, all advertising costs will be borne by the company. India’s hot climate and fast food culture have made it a credible market for cold drinks. Opening a cold drink distributorship is a very profitable venture and we hope that this article will guide you towards that.

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FAQs On How To Start A Soft Drink Business

Q. Is soft drink business profitable in India?

Ans- Investment Vs Profit Margin: The most eminent selling soft drink glass cost 5 rupees to 10 rupees which have approximately 50% to 60% of profit margins. If your cold drink agency can sell about 500 glasses of rupees 5 then you can make from 1250 Rs to 1400 Rs per day which is almost 42,000 Rupees profit monthly.

Q. How much does it cost to start a soft drink business?

Ans- The cost of starting a soft drink manufacturing plant business will come down to around 10-15 lacs if you get a semi-automatic machine. Other costs include-

• Land investment
• 3 months of working capital
• Manpower costing
• Legal fee and charges
• Inventories

This will make your total cost come up to anywhere around 30 Lakh Rupees.

Q. How can I register my beverage company in India?

Ans- You've to enrol your cold drink agency for FSSAI Registration & Food Safety License for Bar Beverages. Other licenses needed are:

1. Brand Registration (optional)
2. GST No.

Q. How can I start a small drink business?

Ans- To start soft drink business in India, you must check these things off your list:

• Step 1- Collude and Develop Your Idea.
• Step 2- Develop a Business and marketing plan.
• Step 3- Work out all your Business Logistics.
• Step 4- Protect the Quality of your production.
• Step 5- Share Your Vision via different mediums.

Q. What is the process of making soft drinks?

Ans- The processing of soft drinks in a standard manner are:

1. Sugar Syrup Clarification
2. Water Microbial Stabilisation
3. Carbonation
4. Bottle Blower and Bottle Washer
5. Bottle Filler

Q. How do I start a cold drink agency?

Ans- To start your cold drink agency you will have to:

• Find your primary demographic.
• Learn about the brand.
• Research the product lines.
• Apply on the website.
• Getting Started with the process.
• Sales and marketing.

Q. Can cold drink price list?

Ans- Every wholesaler or cold drink distributorship decides its pricing depending on the quantity ordered. It also varies if you order bottles or cartons.

Q. How much it cost to make a cold drink?

Ans- The standard cost to make cold drinks like- Sprite, Limca, Thums Up, Pepsi, and Coca Cola is Rs 1.50 to 2.00 per litre. So the price of a 250 ml soft drink beverage will be 0.50 Paise.

Q. How much margin is in cold drinks?

Ans- The profit margin for cold drinks lies anywhere between 10 to 20%.

Q. Why are soft drinks profitable?

Ans- The cost of soft drinks production is very low while the demand is surplus everywhere. Soft drinks can make a profit at any price, it is the largest and most profitable market in the larger beverage industry.