Piruz Khambatta

Piruz Khambatta is the Chairman Managing Director of Rasna Pvt. Ltd. Rasna is India's largest and most popular soft drink brand. He joined Rasna at the age of 18 in 1997. Under his leadership the company has great future.The brand that launched a legendary campaign in 1980, "I love you Rasna," which an entire generation grew up with, recently changed its tagline to 'Relish a Gain' with the aim of focusing on the health aspect of the drink. It has now been positioned as an affordable drink for the masses. The repositioning of the brand is reflected in Rasna's new ad, which has replaced the endearing girl with a kid along with Genilia Deshmukh. Khambatta believes that kids today have a greater say in deciding which products should grace the shelves at home. However, the company has done all this without changing the value-for-money image of Rasna.

Khambatta, a hands-on manager with a knack for zeroing in on successful promotional strategies, has made Rasna a legendary Indian success story. The brand has braved competition from giants like International Best Foods, Unilever, Coca Cola, Rallis and a host of smaller players. Yet the company and brand alike have shown rock-steady market growth and gained a significant market share. Currently enjoying 93 per cent of the pie, Rasna has left its competitors far behind.

With the aim of spreading the message of the health benefits of daily consumption of milk, Khambatta also introduced 'Rasna Shake Up'. The fruit-drink concentrate maker has also ventured into the fast foods business with Devil's Workshop, which started in Ahmedabad through franchise Outlets.The Company currently has around 100 outlets in Ahmedabad, Pune, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Hyderabad and in many other cities.

Having commenced international operations in 1993, Rasna has been selling soft drink concentrates and instant drink powders and an ethnic range of products to global markets. Khambatta introduction of the Rasna 'Ek ka Do' campaign is cited as the single biggest attempt by a company of this category to grow the market.

Armed with down-to-earth marketing, the localisation of the flavour names and the introduction of 'paan wallah' salesmen, Rasna has penetrated into the remotest corners of the country and reached out to the masses. Khambatta has duplicated Rasna's success in foods, especially with 'Rasna Spread Maker' and 'Rasna International'. With these products Rasna is available in over 40 countries. Its overseas operations make concentrates worth two billion glasses -- making it one of the biggest brand concentrate businesses in the world.

Over the last many years, Rasna has successfully spread its wings with its Exports Division, offering the extremely successful Soft Drink Concentrates, Instant Drink Powders and Ethnic range of products to the global markets. Rasna has also been awarded with The International Taste and Quality Institute (iTQi) award and host of other awards and applauses.