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In a major move ahead of the festival season, Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Consumer Products has decided to slash the prices of its soft drink ‘Campa Cola’. The Campa Cola will now be available at half the prices of what Coca-Cola and Pepsi are offering. The Campa Cola was a popular brand during the 1970s and 80s. Its nationalist tagline, “The Great Indian Taste,” propelled it to great heights.
It was during the 1990s when the popularity of Campa Cola declined with the return of foreign soft drinks. Now, Reliance Consumer Products has relaunched it at a time when Coca-Cola controls 51 percent of the soft drink market and PepsiCo holds 34 percent.
The story of Campa Cola is very interesting. After the Emergency was imposed in 1975, elections were held, and the Janata Party came to power. In the newly-formed government, George Fernandes was appointed as the Minister of Industry.
He made a major decision and stopped Coca-Cola’s production in India. He also issued notices to all foreign companies operating in India, making it mandatory for them to comply with the amendments to FERA (Foreign Exchange Regulation Act).
During that era, Sardar Mohan Singh’s company, Pure Drinks, was making significant profits by producing Coca-Cola. From 1949 to 1970, Pure Drinks Group was the sole distributor of Coca-Cola in India. After the Janata Party’s decision, Pure Drinks formulated a new strategy and launched Campa Cola.
Meanwhile, following the halt on Coca-Cola, the government introduced a new soft drink called “Double Seven.” There was a specific reason behind naming it Double Seven. In fact, in 1977, the Janata Party came to power by defeating the opposition political party, Congress. The drink was named Double Seven to commemorate this year.
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