Nadia Chauhan, The Woman Who Turned Parle Agro Into Rs 8,000 Cr Giant That Gave Us Iconic ‘Frooti’ & ‘Appy Fizz’ Drinks

Frooti’s consumers today range from patients drinking at hospitals to those enjoying family functions. Here’s how Nadia Chauhan took Frooti from a Rs 300-crore brand to an Rs 8,000-crore business.

New Delhi: One of India’s biggest FMCG firms, Parle Agro,  now employs Nadia Chauhan as its Chief Marketing Officer and Joint Managing Director. Nadia joined her father’s Parle Agro group in 2003 when she was just 17 years old and when “Frooti” was responsible for nearly 95 per cent of the revenues in the company. She has spearheaded innovative marketing strategies and product diversification, transforming the company into a powerhouse in the Indian beverage industry. Here’s how Nadia Chauhan took Parle Agro from a Rs 300-crore brand to a Rs 8,000-crore business.

Born into a business family of Chauhans in California and brought up in Mumbai, Nadia Chauhan studied commerce at H R College. She, according to Forbes, was groomed from an early age by her father. She would spend her after-school time at the company’s Mumbai headquarters.

After she joined the company, she decided to reduce the company’s dependency on one product and diversify into other areas. As part of this, she launched the iconic package water brand ‘Baileys’, which has now become a Rs 1,000-crore business. The company doubled its turnover as a result of distribution and key tie-ups with dhabas and long-distance bus operators.

“At that time in the beverage industry, the two categories that were well established were the fruit juice category and the synthetic carbonated drinks category. But beyond that, there wasn’t any more innovation or creation of other categories, unlike the food industry,” she told Forbes.

The birth of ‘Appy Fizz’

However, the killer move came in 2005 when Nadia launched her brainchild “Appy Fizz”, one of the firsts in the apple juice category when India was unfamiliar with Apple juice. The idea became a runaway hit with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 36 per cent and a market share of 99 per cent.

Appy Fizz disrupted the market by offering a unique and refreshing alternative to traditional carbonated beverages, creating a new category altogether.

Nadia also led the foray into international markets, ensuring that Parle Agro’s products reached a global audience. Today, Frooti and Appy Fizz are present in over 50 countries, making Parle Agro a prominent player in the international beverage industry.

It entered the dairy business last year with the launch of flavoured milk Smoodh. It offers a new range of products —Smoodh Fruit Smoothies—which are yoghurt-based fruit smoothies.

“A lot of the products that were introduced in India were expensive. So they did not penetrate into the country and allow for more adoption of these kinds of habits. When we launched dairy, our starting point was can we do this at Rs 10. What we were seeing was that dairy products were priced at Rs 30, in package sizes too large for kids to finish,” she said. Smoodh is already contributing 6 per cent to the company’s revenues.

About Parle Agro Group

The Parle Group was founded by Mohanlal Chauhan in 1929. He was the great-grandfather of Nadia Chauhan. Jayantilal, Mohanlal’s youngest son, started the beverages business in 1959. The company that owned brands like Thums Up, Limca, Gold Spot, Citra and Maaza, were passed on to Ramesh Chauhan and Prakash Chauhan.

Parle Group sold these brands to Coca-Cola in the 1990s. The two brothers later split their businesses. Ramesh Chauhan, the father of Jayanti Chauhan, took charge of the Bisleri brand.

Don’t Miss Out on the Latest Updates.
Subscribe to Our Newsletter Today!

Subscribe Now