30-07-2025
India's thirst for ‘no added sugar' increases; Varun Beverages notes significant shift in consumption habits
Indian consumers are increasingly showing a preference for low sugar/no added sugar in their choice of carbonated drinks,
PepsiCo's Indian bottler
said based on data for H1 of calendar year (CY) 2025, adding that 55% of sales volume coming from such products in first half of 2025.
'Every product will slowly start getting into mid-calorie and no-sugar segments. As of now, we have no-sugar 7 Up, Pepsi Black and Gatorade in India,'
Ravi Jaipuria
, chairman of
PepsiCo
's bottling partner
Varun Beverages
said last year. 'Consumers have accepted this well and we are performing extremely well,' he added.
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The company reported that in H1 CY2025, the mix of low sugar/no added sugar products was 55% of the consolidated sales volumes.
The company sold 386.1 million cases of low sugar/no sugar drinks out of total 702 million cases sold in H1 CY2025. (unit case - 5.678 liters of beverage divided in 24 bottles of ~ 237 ml each)
In CY 2024, low-sugar and no-sugar drinks contributed 44.4% to PepsiCo's sales volume, up from 40.2% a year ago, according to previous data from Varun Beverages, a listed entity.
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In the second quarter of CY2025, the bottler sold 390 million cases, with carbonated soft drinks accounting for 75% of sales, followed by 7% non-carbonated drinks and 18% packaged drinking water, maintaining the same shares of sales as Q1 CY2025.
Varun Bev eyes African expansion amid slow Indian growth
Varun Beverages reported a 7.1% decline in Indian sales volume, while International volumes grew by 15.1% (
South Africa
growing at 16.1%), partially offsetting the overall decline.
To diversify revenue streams, the company's foreign subsidiary started commercial production of snacks product
"Cheetos" in Morocco
, South Africa this quarter.
'In International markets, Varun Beverages Morocco has commenced commercial production of PepsiCo's snacks product 'Cheetos'. This marks another milestone in strengthening our presence in the high-potential snack category, complementing our beverage portfolio and diversifying our revenue streams,' Chairman Jaipuria said on Tuesday.
In the last quarter, the soft drink giant spent Rs. 4,500 million in International territories, including a new soft drink PET bottle production belt in Congo, CAN line in South Africa and snack manufacturing in Morocco.
The company is looking to procure more land to expand its South African production facility. 'We are awaiting approval from the Competition Commission of South Africa for land parcel purchase adjoining to our production facility in Boksburg to further enhance capacity & backward integration,' the chairman said.
'We continue to focus on growth opportunities in the South African market. We have enhanced capacity by setting up a can line in Durban, one of our existing production facilities,' he added.
Varun Beverages is also aiming to increase its share in Zambia's soft drink market from 90% to 95%.
'Strong currency and our efforts in implementing backward integration last year have resulted in enhanced profitability in all our African territories. We have further strengthened Zambia, DRC and South Africa subsidiary balance sheets and through in-process equity infusion raising our stake in Zambia from 90% to 95%,' Jaipuria said.
On BSE, shares of Varun Beverages Ltd. were trading at Rs 521.55 per unit after rising by Rs 9.35 (1.83%) as on 12:56 PM on Wednesday.
