Reliance Consumer Products, the consumer brands division of India’s Reliance Industries has acquired a majority stake in a joint venture with functional drinks maker Naturedge Beverages.
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
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In a statement, Reliance’s consumer arm said the joint venture will look to offer consumers a selection of “herbal-natural beverages”, bolstering its “presence as a total beverage company”.
The group added that the healthy functional beverage sector offers a “large and rapidly expanding opportunity” fuelled by “strong” consumer movement towards “healthier, natural alternatives”.
In the same statement, Ketan Mody, executive director of Reliance Consumer Products, said the venture “strengthens our beverage portfolio with the addition of health-focused functional drinks, inspired by Ayurveda.”
Naturedge Beverages, founded in 2018 by Siddhesh Sharma of the Baidyanath Group, specialises in better-for-you drinks inspired by the holisitic medicine system Ayuverda.
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By GlobalDataMody added: “Within a very short span of time, Shunya has gained wide popularity among health-conscious consumers” and “also fits perfectly” with the company’s vision.
Naturedge’s flagship product, Shunya, is a zero-sugar, zero-calorie beverage infused with Indian herbs such as Ashwagandha and Brahmi. The business also makes ready-to-drink functional shots under the Armr brand.
Commenting on the deal, co-founder Sharma said: “The partnership with RCPL is a testament of Shunya’s rapidly growing acceptability among consumers. With our visions aligned on turning Shunya into a pan-India brand that caters to consumers love for herbal-natural functional beverages that are refreshing and fun-filled at the same time, this is a win-win for us.”
The joint venture will enable the Shunya brand to be available to consumers across the country using Reliance’s “wide network of distribution and supply chain”, Sharma added.
In July, Reliance Industries reportedly announced plans to set up a new subsidiary for its consumer-facing brands.
According to a report from India’s Economic Times at the time, Reliance Industries aimed to draw a new pool of investors to its FMCG portfolio by presenting the business as a standalone entity, instead of keeping it embedded within its broader retail operations.
At the time Reuters said India’s National Company Law Tribunal had approved the restructuring exercise, according to a document cited by the news agency and dated 25 June.
“This is a large business by itself requiring specialised and focused attention, expertise and different skill sets as compared to retail business,” Reliance Industries said in its request for approval to the Tribunal, the document quoted by Reuters said.
It added: “This business also entails large capital investments on an on-going basis and can attract a different set of investors.”
The creation of the new subsidiary business unit will involve the transfer of the company’s consumer brands from its existing retail arm, according to Reuters, which baked the observation made by the Economic Times.
