ven before Pepsi had the nation asking for more; before Aamir Khan�s tongue-lashing left the owner of an Irani restaurant speechless and Coca-Cola came to mean �thanda�; long before four dudes battled a ram and bungeed off cliffs urging you to do the Dew, India had tasted the thunder. Well over two-and-a-half decades later the young and the macho still want their thunder, and Thums Up is loving every bit. After all, it has become the largest selling carbonated soft drink (CSD) in the country.

A Rs 1,700-crore brand in the Rs 7,000 crore CSD market, Coca-Cola India says, Thums Up is the biggest brand in the market today with about 20 per cent of the total volume share (65 crore bottles in 2004). Over the last five years its volume has increased by more than 75 per cent and it has come to own 40 per cent of the cola market, followed by Pepsi�s 35 per cent share and Coca-Cola�s 25 per cent (colas are about 50 per cent of the CSD market). Though it is sold only in India, Thums Up is one of Coca-Cola Company�s Top 10 brands worldwide. In fact, the company plans to export it, starting with South Asian countries, later this year.... more