Paani, jal, neer, vellam — these are some of the common names of water in Indian languages. But the one synonym for water, common across all Indian languages, is Bisleri.
Bisleri is not the only brand in the world which has achieved the feat of synonymising itself with a product, but what’s exceptional about it is that it made water a product, especially at a time when such a feat seemed inconceivable.
Bisleri International’s chairperson Ramesh Chauhan (82) announced earlier this week that he was in talks with Tata Consumer Products Ltd (TCPL) to divest the brand for Rs 6,000 – 7,000 crore. He had bought the brand for a mere Rs 4 Lakh in 1969.
Bisleri was perhaps closest to Chauhan’s heart who kept the brand with himself when he sold his soft-drinks portfolio — Thums Up, Gold Spot, Citra, Maaza and Limca — to Atlanta-headquartered Coca-Cola in 1993.
Bisleri introduced 20 litre cans in 1991 and also has a premium water brand, ‘Vedica – Himalayan Spring Water’, which the company claims is sourced from a “spring in the foothills of the Himalayas in Uttarakhand”.
The brand also offers a Bisleri Soda, besides three other aerated drinks, namely Spyci, Limonata and Fonzo, to its customers. Like its competitors Kinley and Aquafina, Bisleri too used blue-coloured labels on its packaging till 2006, when it adopted the sea green colour in a bid to stand out.
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Italian origin & entry into Indian market
Contrary to popular belief, Bisleri — the ultimate homegrown brand — does not have Indian origins, so to speak.
The brand traces its roots to Italy where it is believed to have originated from a spring called Angelica in a town called Nocera Umbra. The brand was first conceptualised by entrepreneur Felice Bisleri, whose death in 1921 put his family doctor Dr Cesare Rossi at the helm of the company’s affairs.
It was only in 1965…
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