October 8, 2013: Sprite has dethroned Thums Up so as to become the largest selling beverage in India. Thums Up which has been in the numero uno position for the last three decades recorded a market share of 15. 3 percent whereas Sprite recorded a market share of 15.7 per cent. These numbers which were brought out by Nielsen also points to a very interesting aspect. Though both the beverages belong to Coca-Cola, it gives an indication that people in India are slowly moving away from Cola. Nielsen also reported that of the Rs.14,000 crore aerated drinks category the lime-lemon segment has now got 36 per cent market share and Colas have got 35 per cent market share.
Sprite has been constantly selling more than Thums Up for the last three months. Speaking about this development, Mr. Ramesh Chauhan who created the Thums Up brand in 1977 and later sold it to Coca Cola said that Colas have been selling largely because of the aggressive marketing whereas Lemon flavour is something which every Indian household is familiar of and people use it as well. Coca Cola has not yet remarked on the report by Nielsen but just issued a statement saying that between both these brands, they have more than 30 per cent market share.
Sprite has never seen a celebrity endorsing it but Thums Up has been endorsed by Akshay Kumar and later by Salman Khan. The report also throws light on the fact that the lime-lemon segment has been constantly growing and even at the cost of orange flavoured drinks.
