Double Seven (soft drink)

Double Seven
Type Cola
Manufacturer Modern Food Industries
Country of origin India
Introduced 1977
Discontinued Yes
Flavour Cola
Variants Double Seven Tingle (Lemon-lime flavoured)
Related products Thums Up, Campa Cola.

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.[1][2][3][4] Double Seven was launched at the annual trade fair at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi as a gift by the then ruling Janata Party.[5]

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.[6][7]

Developed to fill the void left by Coca-Cola, Double Seven was manufactured and marketed by Modern Food Industries, a government owned company.[8][9] 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.[10] The main competitors to Double Seven were Campa Cola, Thums Up, Duke's, McDowell's Crush and Double Cola.[11] Double Seven also had a Lemon-lime flavoured soft drink known as Double Seven Tingle.[12]

In 1980, Prime Minister Desai lost the support of parliament and resigned, leading to elections that returned Indira Gandhi to power.[13] Double Seven, which was named after the year in which she lost power,[1][14] lost further share of market as her government was not interested in supporting a product which reminded them of 1977.[5] Modern Food Industries gradually slipped into the red and was taken over by Hindustan Lever Limited in January 2000.[15]

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.[3]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Waning days of an Indian soda pop". The New York Times. 23 February 2009. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
  2. ↑ India 50: The Making of a Nation (1997), EIndia 50: The Making of a Nation, Ayaz Memon and Book Quest Publishers, p. 145, ISBN 81-8602-506-5, ISBN 8186025065
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "How Thums Up became the ruling cola of India". Mercury Brief. 18 October 2009. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
  4. ↑ "History". Coca-Cola India. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Sunil Lala (1998), American Khichdi, Macmillan Publishers India Limited, p. 25, ISBN 0230-63745-0, ISBN 0230637450
  6. ↑ [Business: India May Swallow Coke "Business: India May Swallow Coke"]. Time Magazine. 22 August 1977. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  7. ↑ Mehul Srivastava (9 September 2010). "Coca-Cola Can't Speak Its Name in India as Pepsi Enters Hindi". Bloomberg. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  8. ↑ Devendra Thakur (1998), Economic Reforms and Industrialisation: Textiles, dairy, cement and mica industries, Deep & Deep Publications, p. 242, ISBN 81-7100-855-0
  9. ↑ "MODERN FOOD INDUSTRIES (INDIA) LIMITED". Ministry of Food Processing Industries. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
  10. ↑ Rajat K. Baisya (2008), Changing Face of Processed Food Industry in India, Ane Books Pvt Ltd, p. 142, ISBN 81-8052-166-4, ISBN 8180521664
  11. ↑ "The brand that refused to die". Business Today. 31 May 2009. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
  12. ↑ Manendra Mohan (1989), Advertising Management: Concepts and Cases, Tata McGraw-Hill Education, p. 130, ISBN 9780074517802, ISBN 0074517805
  13. ↑ "1980: Gandhi returned by landslide vote". BBC. 7 January 1980. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
  14. ↑ Atiya Bansal (1998), The City From Here, Har-Anand Publications Private Limited, p. 78, ISBN 978-81-241-1424-7, ISBN 9788124114247
  15. ↑ "Brief Notes on Privatised Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs)". Department of Disinvestment, Ministry of Finance. Retrieved 5 Jan 2012.