Type Cola Country of origin India Discontinued Yes | Manufacturer Modern Food Industries Introduced 1977 Flavour Cola | |
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Double Seven was an Indian soft drink brand. It was manufactured and marketed by the Indian government after Coca-Cola quit the Indian market in 1977 due to changes in government policies. Double Seven was launched at the annual trade fair at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi as a gift by the then ruling Janata Party.
In 1977, the Morarji Desai government asked Coca-Cola to hand over the controlling stake of its Indian operation to Indian investors as per the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act. This would have meant that Coca-Cola might have had to share the secret Coca-Cola formula with its Indian partners. Coca-Cola refused and was asked by the government to cease its operations in India.
Developed to fill the void left by Coca-Cola, Double Seven was manufactured and marketed by Modern Food Industries, a government owned company. The formula for the concentrate of Double Seven was developed at Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore. Despite government backing, Double Seven could not dominate the Indian soft drinks market. The main competitors to Double Seven were Campa Cola, Thums Up, Duke's, McDowell's Crush and Double Cola. Double Seven also had a Lemon-lime flavoured soft drink known as Double Seven Tingle.
In 1980, Prime Minister Desai lost the support of parliament and resigned, leading to elections that returned Indira Gandhi to power. Double Seven, which was named after the year in which she lost power, lost further share of market as her government was not interested in supporting a product which reminded them of 1977. Modern Food Industries gradually slipped into the red and was taken over by Hindustan Lever Limited in January 2000.
However, Thums Up, which was also launched in 1977 after the departure of Coca-Cola, continued to thrive until its eventual takeover by Coca-Cola.