A Thai beverage with a Japanese name is quietly reshaping how young Indian consumers think about soft drinks — one chewy sip at a time.
Mogu Mogu, whose name translates to “chew chew,” was created by Thailand’s Sappe Public Company Limited in 2001. It arrived in India in 2008 through Sunbeam Mercantile Ventures, the same distributor behind other international labels sold in the country, including Scottish preserve brand Mackays and Italian bakery brand Matilde Vicenzi. Since then, the drink has grown from a niche import into a category-defining product, particularly among Gen Z women, and has recently expanded into candies and iced teas.
A bet on taste over price
When Sunbeam brought Mogu Mogu to India, there was no local equivalent on shelves. Vikash Singhal, director and founder of Sunbeam Ventures, recalled that the brand had the market largely to itself at launch, with a price gap against mainstream colas that wasn’t especially steep — Mogu Mogu retailed around Rs 70 versus roughly Rs 40 for a regular cola.
Singhal said the premium was a deliberate bet on the drink’s distinctiveness. “Taste was a significant factor,” he said, adding that he believed consumers would pay more for something genuinely different — a conviction that shaped the decision to introduce the brand in India in the first place.
What makes it different?
The drink’s signature feature is nata de coco — small, translucent, jelly-like cubes suspended in the liquid. The ingredient is produced by fermenting coconut water with sugar and a beneficial bacterial culture, giving the beverage its distinctive chew. A standard 320-ml bottle currently sells for around Rs 70.