Bisleri is once again in news. But do you know that Bisleri, which has become synonymous with bottled water in every household of India, is helpful in running the business of many other small companies. Still, the story of this brand born in 1851 is different. Let’s know the whole story…
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Bisleri is another name for bottled or packaged drinking water in India from villages to cities and towns. Don’t know how many small companies like Bilseri, Belsri and Birseli are doing business in its name. Bisleri earns a profit of Rs 220 crore only by giving water to people. After all, how did this brand built in 1851 build an empire worth Rs 7,000 crore, why is it in news again?
By the way, the Bisleri brand is so strong that it has a 32 per cent share in the Rs 8,000 crore organized packaged drinking water market. While other companies do their business in the name of Bisleri to capitalize on its trust among the people. The story of Bisleri may have started in 1851, but Ramesh Chauhan started its name reaching every household in India in 1969.
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Why is Bisleri in news now?
At present, Bisleri is being discussed about choosing its successor. Ramesh Chauhan, who started it, wanted to sell his business to Tata Group first, but things could not materialize. There is no consensus between his daughter Jayanti Chauhan and him about handling the business, so now the command of Bisleri has reached the hands of the company’s CEO Angelo George.
This was the journey from 1851 to 1969
Businessman, chemist and inventor Signor Felice started Bisleri in 1851. He started it as an alcohol remedy to sell a drink made from herbs. After Felice’s death, his friend Dr. Rossi became the owner of Bisleri.
Later it was Dr. Rossi who roped in his Indian friend and lawyer Khushru Santook to start selling bottled mineral water in India. The brand soon started making inroads from hotels to restaurants in Mumbai and surrounding markets. Then its plant was started in Thane.
See also: Not only Bisleri, Ramesh Chauhan had created indigenous brands like Limca and Thums Up
After this came the year 1969, when Chauhan Brothers of Parle Company in India thought of trying their hand in this segment. Ramesh Chauhan bought the Bisleri brand for just Rs 4 lakh. Ramesh Chauhan’s marketing strategy not only took this brand out of hotels and restaurants to common homes in India, but also popularized it abroad. Now the value of the Bisleri brand is around Rs 7,000 crore.
Bisleri’s profit is tremendous
The turnover of Ramesh Chauhan’s Bisleri could be Rs 2,500 crore in the financial year 2022-23. In this, the profit of the company will be Rs 220 crore. While the company’s sales were Rs 1,181.7 crore in the financial year that ended in Kovid’s year i.e. March 2021, where the profit was Rs 95 crore.
water market is very big
If we look at the packaged drinking water business spread in the organized and unorganized sector in India, it is worth about Rs 19,315 crore. According to the report of market research company Teksai Research, this market is growing at the rate of 13.25 percent every year.
Apart from Ramesh Chauhan’s Bisleri, big companies from India and abroad are also involved in this sector. They trade water under different brand names, such as PepsiCo’s Aquafina, Coca-Cola’s Kinley, IRCTC’s Railneer and Tata Group’s Tata Copper Plus brand. At the same time, Bisleri is also in the premium segment, under which it Vedika sells Himalayan spring water under the name, in which its competition is Tata’s Himalayan is from.