Reliance Consumer Products (RCPL) has now partnered with Ceylon Beverage International, one of the largest beverages can and filling companies in Sri Lanka, promoted by former cricketer Muthiah Muralitharan, to co-pack and manufacture its Campa soft drink cans. While the co-packing partnership has been formalized, it is close to ratifying a deal to set up manufacturing units in India to make Campa’s soft drinks.
Reliance Consumer Products will probably get distribution rights for some of Ceylon Beverage International’s brands in India as part of the partnership. The Ceylon Beverages’ plant is equipped with a capacity of filling 300 million beverage cans per year and has partnerships with international, national, and regional companies.
At the moment, Reliance is importing the cans of Campa from Sri Lanka; Ceylon Beverage International plans to also set up manufacturing units in India for RCPL; and additionally, RCPL may also get distribution rights for some of Ceylon Beverages’ brands in India as part of the partnership.
This is Campa’s first large-scale manufacturing partnership in India for cans. Ceylon Beverages was established in 2020 as a beverage processing and filling company, supplying cans to beverage companies in Sri Lanka as well as around the world, as its website states.
The companies it partners with include those making mineral water, energy drinks, soft drinks, hot fill juices, and flavoured milk in cans, with an hourly output of more than 48,000 cans and 34,000 bottles, the website says.
Reliance Retail acquired Campa last year from Pure Drinks Group for an estimated ₹22 crore. It also acquired a 50% stake in Gujarat-headquartered Sosyo Hajoori Beverages and its mainstay beverage brand, Sosyo, in January this year. Besides Sosyo, Hajoori’s other brands include Kashmira, Lemee, Ginlim, Runner, and Opener. Sosyo is a dominant player in Gujarat.