Bovonto

Bovonto
Type	Cola
Manufacturer	Kali Aerated Water Works
Country of origin	India
Introduced	1916
Related products	Trio Solo Frutang
Website	Official website

Bovonto is a soft drink popular in South India, especially Tamil Nadu with a select fan following.

It is manufactured and marketed by Kali Mark (Kalis Sparkling Water (P) Ltd.), which has offices and bottling plants at several locations in Tamil Nadu. At present it has put up a distribution point at Chennai.

The drink is mildly carbonated and has a tangy grape-cola taste.

Kali Mark is a regional-level player and is one of the very few indigenous soft-drink manufacturers in India that survived the onslaught of take-overs by multinational giants Pepsi and Coca Cola, during the mid-1990s. Other than Bovonto, the company also used to produce soft drinks like Trio, Solo and Frutang. The company still maintains a low profile in areas of marketing advertising. It has a minimal online presence.

History

The product Bovonto came into existence in 1916, in Virudhunagar under Mr. P.V.S.K. Palaniappa Nadar. The company is being run by the fourth generation of the family.

During the 1990s, almost all of the local soft drinks were either bought or driven out of business by aggressive pricing and marketing by foreign competitors. But kalimark made a strong ground in Tamil Nadu with almost all small players out of the game. Recently Kalimark group has reinvented itself with modern technology for production. The shape of Bovonto pet bottle was redesigned and production was increased. During the decade the soft drinks are sold in pet bottles and have installed pet bottle machines,and developed their own markets,to meet out the market demand.,the took active part in floating the new Private Limited Company 'KALIS SPARKLING WATER P.LTD' at Madurai.

Operations and Marketing

Over the years, it battled Spencer's, the British brand, Indian players such as Parle, and then MNCs. When Pepsi and Coke entered the market, they sold 300 ml bottles at Rs 5, while Bovonto sold for Rs 8. Kalimark maintained its price. Kalimark is a Rs 100 crore brand now.

Bovonto does not do much aggressive marketing, they mostly rely on word of mouth. Kalimark. Recently to increase their penetration they started to appear in TV shows. Bovonto presents a tamil mega serial(Nadhaswaram) in sun tv and a gaming show in vijay tv. The parent company of Bovonto has manufacturing units in eight places in Tamil Nadu. The company lacks economy of scale, but the strengths of the company include great product, a popular brand and strong distribution.^[1] ^[2]

External links

References