Cane juice retailing turns a cool biz as health consciousness grows
Tempted to have a glass of soothing, cool sugarcane juice on a hot summer afternoon, but repelled by the fare offered by the roadside vendor, who squeezes the last wee bit drop by passing the unclean cane through a crusher several times, filters the juice in an unwashed sieve and chills it with ice supplied on a bullock-cart.
You have an option.
Branded cane juice outlets are springing up in quick succession, cashing in on the growing health consciousness and ability to spend Rs.10-12 for a glass of juice, churned out from a five to six feet tall machine that comes with an in-built filter and cooler.
The concept of branded cane juice outlets took off four to five years ago when a clear demand was seen for hygienic juice against what was sold by local vendors, says Prakash Baliga, senior manager with Cane O La, which has 15 outlets in Bangalore and Mysore in Karnataka and Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh.
Against the Rs.7-8 a glass which the unorganised stall charges, these branded outlets charge Rs.3-5 more for a glass sold from a 100-150 square feet outlet, which has a clean floor, painted walls and provides computerised invoice, say experts.
"This willingness to shell out a little more is leading to the growth of such outlets," says Naveen Kumar, who is a franchisee for Real Cane, which has 7-8 outlets in Bangalore.
The branded outlets, majority of which operate as franchisees, mostly use stainless steel juice machines that extract maximum juice in a single crush, and which come with an in-built filter, cooler, and garbage collector to collect the bagasse (residue once juice is extracted). The automatic machine makes it possible for a single person to operate and man the store.
Vanditha D'Silva, proprietor, Maria Enterprises, which operates outlets under the Cane Crush brand in Bangalore, says an initial investment of Rs.400,000-500,000 goes into setting up an outlet, which also requires a refrigerator to store the cane.
Most outlets source cane from places such as Mandya, Mysore and Maddur in Karnataka, which come cleaned and cut to one-and-a-half feet in length.
Chanchal Chawla, CEO, Juice India, a Punjab-based firm which manufactures juice machines, says that they have sold sugarcane juice machines costing Rs.78,000-150,000 to over 300 standalone retail outlets, mostly in Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai in the last few years.
"We sell 50-60 machines each year to standalone outlets. This itself suggests the high demand," says Chawla.
Kumar, who sees up to 2,000 cups of juice flying off the shelves during summers, is planning to open outlets in cities such as Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata, which see high temperatures.
"We are aiming at opening up to four outlets in a year, going by the demand, which rises to 600-700 cups on weekends from 250 on regular days," says D'Silva, who currently runs 2 outlets in the IT city.
Pavan Kumar Soma from Cane N Fresh Enterprises, which runs outlets through franchisees and also manufactures juice machines, says he is targeting 30-40 outlets per year. "We currently have 32 outlets in Hyderabad, Bangalore, Mysore, Chennai and Coimbatore."
Any outlet located in a crowded area, surrounded by educational institutions or shopping malls or corporate parks, sees a monthly turnover of Rs.100,000-150,000 on an average.
Many outlets have also started selling family packs of 1 litre and half-litre bottles.
D'Silva says each of her outlets sells 20-25 such bottles in a day.
Moreover, these outlets are planning to introduce variations like cane juice mixed with coconut water, ice-cream and cane juice, or ice-gola and cane juice, says Chawla.
However, despite the growth, there are multiple challenges which have led to closure of a few outlets.
Sujatha Sunder from Kabbu Sugar and Spice says when the brand started three years ago they had 10 outlets in Bangalore, but today run just two.
"We closed some outlets as the demand fell to 120 cups to 90 per day. May be packaged coconut water, lime water and lassi are taking away the demand," says Sunder.
Experts say the price of sugarcane has also increased from Rs.4 per kg to Rs.7.
Per-kg of cane yields just 560-570 ml of juice, of which an outlet can make hardly two glasses, says Baliga of Cane O La.
So for every Rs.7 spent on buying the cane, an outlet can at most make Rs.24 (assuming each glass is Rs.12). Then there are rentals, which can even be Rs.20,000-25,000 per month, other than electricity and manpower costs.
"Furthermore, the added flavours like mint, lime, ginger, chaat masala and pepper come with no additional costs to the consumer. This is a seasonal business with the winter and monsoon being the off-seasons, when the demand drops to a fourth," says Baliga.
He says an outlet has to sell 500-700 cups per day to remain in the business.
Soma says several outlets have closed as they had invested Rs.20-25 lakh for a business where each glass cannot sell beyond Rs.15. "Some even added ACs and sofas which are not needed in such outlets."
Tempted to have a glass of soothing, cool sugarcane juice on a hot summer afternoon, but repelled by the fare offered by the roadside vendor, who squeezes the last wee bit drop by passing the unclean cane through a crusher several times, filters the juice in an unwashed sieve and chills it with ice supplied on a bullock-cart.
You have an option.
Branded cane juice outlets are springing up in quick succession, cashing in on the growing health consciousness and ability to spend Rs.10-12 for a glass of juice, churned out from a five to six feet tall machine that comes with an in-built filter and cooler.
The concept of branded cane juice outlets took off four to five years ago when a clear demand was seen for hygienic juice against what was sold by local vendors, says Prakash Baliga, senior manager with Cane O La, which has 15 outlets in Bangalore and Mysore in Karnataka and Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh.
Against the Rs.7-8 a glass which the unorganised stall charges, these branded outlets charge Rs.3-5 more for a glass sold from a 100-150 square feet outlet, which has a clean floor, painted walls and provides computerised invoice, say experts.
"This willingness to shell out a little more is leading to the growth of such outlets," says Naveen Kumar, who is a franchisee for Real Cane, which has 7-8 outlets in Bangalore.
The branded outlets, majority of which operate as franchisees, mostly use stainless steel juice machines that extract maximum juice in a single crush, and which come with an in-built filter, cooler, and garbage collector to collect the bagasse (residue once juice is extracted). The automatic machine makes it possible for a single person to operate and man the store.
Vanditha D'Silva, proprietor, Maria Enterprises, which operates outlets under the Cane Crush brand in Bangalore, says an initial investment of Rs.400,000-500,000 goes into setting up an outlet, which also requires a refrigerator to store the cane.
Most outlets source cane from places such as Mandya, Mysore and Maddur in Karnataka, which come cleaned and cut to one-and-a-half feet in length.
Chanchal Chawla, CEO, Juice India, a Punjab-based firm which manufactures juice machines, says that they have sold sugarcane juice machines costing Rs.78,000-150,000 to over 300 standalone retail outlets, mostly in Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai in the last few years.
"We sell 50-60 machines each year to standalone outlets. This itself suggests the high demand," says Chawla.
Kumar, who sees up to 2,000 cups of juice flying off the shelves during summers, is planning to open outlets in cities such as Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata, which see high temperatures.
"We are aiming at opening up to four outlets in a year, going by the demand, which rises to 600-700 cups on weekends from 250 on regular days," says D'Silva, who currently runs 2 outlets in the IT city.
Pavan Kumar Soma from Cane N Fresh Enterprises, which runs outlets through franchisees and also manufactures juice machines, says he is targeting 30-40 outlets per year. "We currently have 32 outlets in Hyderabad, Bangalore, Mysore, Chennai and Coimbatore."
Any outlet located in a crowded area, surrounded by educational institutions or shopping malls or corporate parks, sees a monthly turnover of Rs.100,000-150,000 on an average.
Many outlets have also started selling family packs of 1 litre and half-litre bottles.
D'Silva says each of her outlets sells 20-25 such bottles in a day.
Moreover, these outlets are planning to introduce variations like cane juice mixed with coconut water, ice-cream and cane juice, or ice-gola and cane juice, says Chawla.
However, despite the growth, there are multiple challenges which have led to closure of a few outlets.
Sujatha Sunder from Kabbu Sugar and Spice says when the brand started three years ago they had 10 outlets in Bangalore, but today run just two.
"We closed some outlets as the demand fell to 120 cups to 90 per day. May be packaged coconut water, lime water and lassi are taking away the demand," says Sunder.
Experts say the price of sugarcane has also increased from Rs.4 per kg to Rs.7.
Per-kg of cane yields just 560-570 ml of juice, of which an outlet can make hardly two glasses, says Baliga of Cane O La.
So for every Rs.7 spent on buying the cane, an outlet can at most make Rs.24 (assuming each glass is Rs.12). Then there are rentals, which can even be Rs.20,000-25,000 per month, other than electricity and manpower costs.
"Furthermore, the added flavours like mint, lime, ginger, chaat masala and pepper come with no additional costs to the consumer. This is a seasonal business with the winter and monsoon being the off-seasons, when the demand drops to a fourth," says Baliga.
He says an outlet has to sell 500-700 cups per day to remain in the business.
Soma says several outlets have closed as they had invested Rs.20-25 lakh for a business where each glass cannot sell beyond Rs.15. "Some even added ACs and sofas which are not needed in such outlets."
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