Bisleri ventures into Europe

Our Corporate Bureau
04 September 2003

New Delhi: While the controversy over European standards is going on in India, Bisleri, the acknowledged Indian market leader, is now set to sell still and sparkling waters in Europe and America.

Bisleri is confident of entering the European market and has been tested by the Central Food & Technology Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysore. The CFTRI-tested Bisleri water using European standards and found 'not detected' for all pesticides specified.

This European launch will silence critics who had raised issues concerning Bisleri's water quality, a company press release said. The company stands proud by its high international quality and has the confidence to take the European market by storm.

Says Parle Bisleri chairman Ramesh Chauhan: "The fact that we have reached out to international markets is an acknowledgement of our quality and our penchant for safety and purity."

Bisleri for Europe will be bottled in three attractive and convenient sizes of 500ml, 750ml and 1.5-litre bottles at its state-of-the-art operations in Jandun, France. Every year 3.1 billion containers will be filled — one of the highest demands ever for Bisleri.

Forecasted sales of a whopping 3,00,000 cases in Europe, the brand will be sold through 28 distributors across Europe. To meet this phenomenal demand, Bisleri will be sold in Europe and America through existing Maaza distributors and retail outlets, doing a turnover of $10 million. For 20 years Maaza has had developed a vast network of 80 distributors and 2,50,000 retail outlets.