A Study on Problems and Prospects of Small andMediumSoft Drinks Manufacturing Entrepreneurs in Dakshina Kannada (D), Karnataka

Abstract

The soft drink segment is the third largest in the packaged food industry, after packaged tea and packaged biscuits. Soft drink industry contributes to the tunes of 28 percent of the total Indian economy. If go back to the history of Indian soft drink industry, it was Indian entrepreneurs who dominated the soft drink market with their own soft drink brands. Till 1990 over 75% of the soft drink market was in the hands of Indian soft drink manufacturing entrepreneurs. Parle’s Limca, Thums up and Gold Spot brands had 60% of market share in India.When the Indian government gave the green signal to Pepsi and white card entry to Coca Cola to start and operate the soft drink manufacturing units in India. Both Pepsi and Coca Cola companies started acquiring those domestic entrepreneurs’ soft drink brands and the whole scenario got changed and the Indian entrepreneurs started losing the market shares. Even today Indian entrepreneurs are putting all out efforts to compete with MNCs soft drinks to grab more percent of market share. This paper highlights those small and medium entrepreneurs who have been taking a huge risk to start soft drinks bottling units and competing against MNCs’ soft drinks. The study also finds out the problems faced by them especially in Dakshina Kannada District, Karnataka.