Type Fruit juice Country of origin India Related products | Manufacturer The Coca-Cola Company Introduced 1998 | |
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Variants Maaza Orange, Maaza Pineapple | ||
Maaza (Hindi: माज़ा, Bengali: মাজ়া) is a Coca-Cola fruit drink brand originated in India and marketed in Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe and Asia, the most popular drink being the mango variety, so much that over the years, the Maaza brand has become synonymous with Mango. Initially Coca-Cola had also launched Maaza in orange and pineapple variants, but these variants were subsequently dropped. Coca-Cola has recently re-launched these variants again in the Indian market.
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Mango drinks currently account for 90% of the fruit juice market in India. Maaza currently dominates the fruit drink category and competes with Pepsi's Slice brand of mango drink and Frooti, manufactured by Parle Agro.
While Frooti was sold in small cartons, Maaza and Slice were initially sold in returnable bottles. However, all brands are also now available in small cartons and large PET bottles. Of late, the Indian market is witnessing the entry of a large number of small manufacturers producing only mango fruit drink.
Maaza has a distinct pulpy taste as compared to Frooti and tastes slightly sweeter than Slice. Maaza claims to contain mango pulp of the Alphonso variety, which is known as the "King of Mangoes" in India.
History
The Union Beverages Factory, based in the UAE, began selling Maaza as a franchisee in the Middle East and Africa in 1976. By 1995, it had acquired rights to the Maaza brand in these countries through Maaza International Co LLC Dubai. Maaza was launched in 1976 in India. and in India, Maaza was acquired by Coca-Cola India in 1993 from Parle-Bisleri along with other brands such as Limca, Citra, Thums Up and Gold Spot. Maaza was acquired by House of Spices in 2005 for the North American market. Finally in the year 2006 Infra Foodbrands acquired Maaza for the European, Caribbean and West-African market and cooperates with House of Spices for the North American market.
Infra Foodbrands
Since 1998 Infra Foodbrands, located in The Netherlands, has started distribution in Europe, West-Africa, North America, Canada and the Caribbean, using frequent worldwide connections from Rotterdam Main Port. Since 2006 Infra Foodbrands is the owner of the Maaza brand and exports to 33 countries (and expanding) worldwide.
Infra Foodbrands develops, designs, distributes and markets a range of beverages, all supported by marketing- and promotional support programmes. Until the appointment of Infra Foodbrands BV, as its European franchise, Maaza was a one-product brand (Maaza Mango) with limited appeal to ethnic consumers in geographical pockets. Since then Infra Foodbrands has turned Maaza into a recognised beverage brand, offering Maaza in 10 different flavours (f.e. Mango, Tropical, Guava, Lychee, Passion Fruit/Maracuja, Pineapple, Banana, Papaya, Fruit Punch and Guanabana) in 9 different packaging formats (f.e. PET bottles, cartons, glass bottles and cans) suitable for all segments of the market. The Maaza drinks are distributed to supermarkets, convenience stores, hotels, cafes and many other outlets.