Raskik - Amazing Coco-fruit fusions!

What comes to your mind when you think of soft drinks? Maybe the likes of thumbs up, Coke, Sprite and Fanta. What constitutes these soft drinks is typically soda, sugar and flavour. Now, these soft drinks may please your tastebuds and help you with digestion. But it has no nutritional value. Soda is filled with sugar and calories, which leads to obesity and diabetes, weakens the bones, damages your teeth and harms your major organs. Even the diet sodas with low to zero calories don’t have any nutritional advantages!

So the question is, when was the last time you had a healthy drink with good taste, better affordability, and absolutely no guilt? We tried to find a drink with all the above qualities, and we found ‘Raskik’. It positions itself as a unique, millennial centric brand with a portfolio of products crafted by fusing coconut water and juices of Indian fruits at an affordable price. Raskik not only caters to the tastebuds but also takes care of the nutritional aspects of the consumers. It does not use artificial colours, flavours, or preservatives and still guarantees a six-month shelf life of about six months.

Founded by Vikas Chawla, Abhay Parnerkar and Satyajit Ram, Raskik is in the capable hands of the beverage industry veterans. All three of them worked at various leadership positions at The Coca-Cola Limited. Having worked in different geographies and brands and the experience scaling businesses, they came together to build an Indian brand for the Indians.

Contextually, the Indian beverage industry is an $11 Bn market growing at a 14% CAGR. Having the largest population of millennials, India still lags in per capita consumption of packaged beverages. The consumption of carbonated beverages, too, is declining with greater awareness and health consciousness. This makes Raskik a perfect entrant in the market with the right product preposition. Priced at just about Rs. 30 for a 250 ml drink, it reaches the masses well with better taste and a healthy drink.

The startup focuses on brand building and developing robust yet differentiated sales and distribution channels. The go-to-market strategy involves online sales through e-groceries and retail sales through supermarkets and areas of high residential occupancy. With extensive research, experience and product experimentation, the strategies seem to work well for the startup. The startup has also undertaken marketing activities to reach the millennials through Facebook & Instagram. The latest is a jingle composed by Yashraj Mukhate.

Having the experience behind them, will the co-founders be able to take on the fight with the behemoths of Coke & Pepsi? Will the product have the reception of the target audience? Will Raskik be able to cater to other segments with new product launches? Time will tell!