Tata Global to step up focus on water business

Continuing its thrust on the wellness segment, Tata Global Beverages (TGB) is planning to increase its business share in the water segment, which will contribute increasingly to the company’s turnover in future.

Answering shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting here on Tuesday, Chairman Cyrus Mistry said “It is planned that the water portfolio will have a 10 per cent share (in turnover) from one per cent now.”

Water is TGB’s newest category, and the company is buoyed by good growth in offerings such as Himalayan, Tata Water Plus and Tata Gluco Plus through NourishCo — TGB’s joint venture with Pepsico. New flavours such as Grape, Cinnamon and Apple variants were introduced under Tata Gluco Plus.

He said that TGB was working on innovations to make tea a more functional drink. “R&D will continue to develop a portfolio of new products and processes to compete in the ‘good for you’ beverage space.”

“TGB is among the top five in terms of market share in countries such as India, the U.K. and Canada,” Mr. Mistry said. He said the company reported strong sales during the year. At present, it operates in Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Delhi, Gurgaon and Chennai.

TGB Managing Director Ajoy Misra said that the company had invested in certain businesses which were now in incubation. One is Tata Starbucks, which has now touched 50 stores. The second is NourishCo, which takes all the water products to the market leveraging the Pepsico distribution channels. The third is the acquisition called the MAP coffee brand in Australia.