India’s RTD beverage market has seen new brands before.
It has seen price wars before.

But it has never seen a player enter with retail control, distribution scale, and pricing power simultaneously.

That’s what Reliance Consumer Products has done with Campa and Sure.

And the real disruption is just beginning.

The Part Most People Miss: Reliance Is a Retailer First, Beverage Brand Second

Traditional beverage companies build:

brand → demand → distribution

Reliance starts with:

retail → shelf → scale → price

That reverses the industry model.

Even giants like Coca-Cola and PepsiCo still depend on retailer negotiation.

Reliance owns the retailer.
Why Sure (Water) Is More Disruptive Than Campa (Cola)

Cola is emotional.
Water is functional.

That difference matters.

India’s packaged water market dominated by Bisleri, Kinley, and Aquafina has:

• low brand loyalty
• commodity perception
• price sensitivity
• uniform PET packaging

This makes it highly vulnerable to a scale player.

Reliance can win water faster than cola.

The Next Battlefield Won’t Be Price. It Will Be Packaging.

Price disruption is phase 1.
Shelf capture is phase 2.

But long-term competition in RTD always shifts to packaging differentiation.

Because when price converges, packaging becomes brand.

Reliance’s Packaging Strategy: Scale Before Differentiation

Campa and Sure packaging today signals a clear approach:

• standard PET bottles
• familiar shapes
• label-led branding
• high-speed manufacturability
• cost-optimized resin

This is classic market-entry packaging:

• fast to produce
• easy to source
• easy to scale
• easy to replicate
   
• Reliance is optimizing supply chain velocity not uniqueness (yet).

What This Means for Competing Beverage Brands

Once Reliance compresses price and captures shelf, brands can’t win on cost.

So the only defensible moat left is:

Packaging + Positioning

Here’s how the market will shift 

 Structural Packaging Will Replace Label Branding

Most Indian RTD bottles are interchangeable.

That’s a problem in a Reliance shelf environment.

Future differentiation will come from:

• signature bottle silhouettes
• ergonomic grip geometry
• embossed branding
• distinctive caps & closures

Structure is harder to copy than than labels.

Sustainability Will Become a Packaging Premium Lever

Reliance can optimize resin cost.

But sustainability perception remains open territory.

Expect growth in:

• recycled PET claims
• lightweight bottles
• refill formats
• reusable bottles
• bio-based materials

Packaging sustainability will justify price premium.

 Premiumization Will Be Packaging-Led

Reliance will dominate mass PET.

Other brands must move up-market.

Premium RTD globally relies on packaging cues:

• thick-wall PET
• glass bottles
• aluminum bottles
• functional caps
• multi-serve formats

Without packaging upgrade, premium positioning fails.

Strategic Reality for the RTD Industry

Reliance controls:

price
shelf
distribution

So competitors must control:

identity
experience
perception

All three are delivered through packaging.

The Big Shift Happening in India’s Beverage Market

RTD beverages in India are moving from:

brand-led market → retail-controlled market

In such markets, packaging becomes the primary differentiator after price.