Harsh summer curbed sales of juices, hot beverages; fizzy drinks were preferred

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₹10 for 200 ml packs. This led to two big players dropping prices, significantly widening the gap between nectar and cola prices, Punmiya said. Cola is a ₹50,000 crore market and nectar is about ₹1,250 crore, he said.

Growth in the nectar market is muted, but the company gained market share. Nectar represents 70-71% of total beverages for Dabur. The company is now ramping up capacities for fizzy drinks and coconut water, Punmiya said.

Dabur’s carbonated fruit drinks portfolio grew 90%. Packaged food and beverage company Tata Consumer Products Ltd said on Tuesday that the intense summer in many parts of the country impacted demand for hot beverages such as tea and other out-of-home categories. The company reported flat volumes in its tea business in the June quarter.

“Packaged beverages saw another quarter of flat volumes and 1% revenue decline, with the tea business dented by intense summers. NourishCo too saw muted growth (up 6% versus 30% in FY24), as strong summers impacted out-of-home consumption for single-serve packs," analysts at Jefferies said on the company’s earnings. NourishCo has a portfolio of non-carbonated, ready-to-drink beverages such as Tata Gluco Plus, Himalayan Natural Mineral Water and Tata Water Plus.

ITC Ltd said extreme heatwaves adversely impacted categories with a higher salience of discretionary and out-of-home consumption. ITC announced its June quarter results Thursday evening. India experienced severe heatwaves this summer, with temperatures soaring to 50 degrees Celsius in many regions.