The State-run Aarey shops known for selling their patent milk drink Energee and Lassi now don a new look. The pale yellow, light pink and pista green Energee bottles have been displaced by Pepsi's bright pink, fluorescent yellow and sparkly blue beverages. Pepsi's recently launched Duke's sodas are attractively packaged and are profitable, say stall-owners. Shops and stalls seem to be pushing Duke's. PepsiCo is giving them a 25 per cent profit as trade margin for a bottle, say retailers, largely from the Kutchi and Gujarati communities. In fact, Maharashtra was the first to see the launch of Pepsi's flavoured Duke's soda. The company expects to have an all-India roll-out in the next few months. Duke's is available in four flavours - Ice Cream Soda, Raspberry, Masala Soda and Gingerade. It is available in 200 ml retro glass bottles priced at Rs. 10 and in 500 ml PET bottles for Rs. 25. The cola-major plans to launch the soda in other Western States in the second phase of the roll-out, and eventually the rest of the country would be covered in the third phase, senior company officials said. "We have been flooded with positive responses from customers for re-launching this product. We have eight stock-keeping units of this product which consist of 200 ml and 500 ml bottles. We have already released seven stock-keeping units," said Pepsi's Executive Director (West Marketing Unit). "We will scale-up the supply in the coming months as per the response," he said, referring to the key performing indicators that they have been monitoring over the last few weeks. PepsiCo did some research and found this product "relevant" to consumers and therefore re-launched it, he said. They also decided to retain the packaging and the retro look of the bottles. "Since Duke's is a heritage brand, we wanted consumers to associate with the old, much-loved product. There are some local brands that are producing similar Raspberry drinks but we have our own product lovers," he said. Commenting on the discounts given to retailers, he says that they are on a par with what they offer for their other beverages. But a shop owner at Hughes Road, an arterial road in South Mumbai, explained: "We are getting close to Rs. 6 per bottle so why not push the sales of this product over other products." Getting defensive about the displacement of Energee bottles, another Aarey stall attendant said, "It's not that we are trying to push Energee bottles to the back of the rack. If we are getting more profit on these sodas then why not place them prominently. Also, the colours are really attractive so consumers definitely stop and ask."
