Old Brand, New War: Why PepsiCo's Biggest India Threat Is Named Campa

In 1977, when Coca-Cola was forced to exit India after refusing to dilute its equity stake, Campa Cola filled the vacuum. For over a decade, it was the cola Indians knew. Then Pepsi arrived in 1989, Coke came back in 1993, and Campa quietly faded into memory.

In 2022, Reliance Consumer Products, the FMCG arm of Mukesh Ambani's conglomerate, acquired the Campa brand for a reported ₹22 crore. The price seemed almost throwaway. What followed was not.

Relaunched at aggressive sub-₹20 price points, Campa is no longer trading on nostalgia. It is backed by Reliance Retail, the country's largest retail network, and is being pushed into local grocery stores, JioMart shelves and quick-commerce platforms with a distribution muscle that no startup challenger can replicate.

PepsiCo's ₹5,700 Crore Answer

Faced with that reality, PepsiCo is not retreating. On May 19, PepsiCo India CEO Jagrut Kotecha, at a media roundtable, announced the company's largest India commitment in years. It will be investing ₹5,700 crore in manufacturing capacity by 2030, spread across greenfield and brownfield projects in Madhya Pradesh, Assam and Tamil Nadu. The bulk of it, he said, would go into the snacks business.

Of all the investments, the Tamil Nadu one is worth paying attention to. PepsiCo's snacks presence has historically been stronger in the north. A manufacturing base in the south changes the cost equation for serving a market of 250 million people, and signals that the company is serious about holding ground, not just managing it.

CFO Savitha Balachandran added that the company holds over ₹1,600 crore in cash reserves, "which will enable it to continue investing in the India market."

Where the Real War Is Being Fought

Both Kotecha and Balachandran were careful with language at the roundtable. But between the lines, the message was clear that the ₹10 price point is under siege.

Campa is not alone. Archian Foods' Lahori Zeera is expanding nationally. Regional and digital-first snack brands are chipping away at Lay's and Kurkure in the snacks aisle. Competition, as Kotecha put it, has become "intense" in lower-priced packs.

This matters because the ₹10 and ₹20 packs are not just entry-level products, they are volume drivers in a country where impulse consumption at small price points accounts for a disproportionate share of FMCG sales. Whoever commands this segment commands the market's engine.

Reliance's advantage here is structural. Reliance Retail operates over 18,000 stores and has direct supplier relationships with millions of local grocery store owners through JioMart. Campa does not need to out-market Pepsi. It just needs to be available, chilled and cheaper.

The Scoreboard, So Far

PepsiCo India Holdings reported revenues of ₹9,798 crore for the year ended December 2025, up 8% year-on-year (YoY), with net profit at ₹905 crore, a 4.5% rise. But the composition matters. The food segment grew 11%, while beverage sales slowed sharply, hit by an unusually prolonged monsoon that killed the summer consumption window PepsiCo depends on.

The recovery, however, has been visible in early 2026. Varun Beverages, the listed entity that bottles for PepsiCo India, reported a 20.1% jump in net profit to ₹878.7 crore for the March 2026 quarter, with revenues rising 18.1% to ₹6,574.2 crore. PepsiCo's own global earnings statement last month called India "a key growth contributor," noting that its convenient foods business grew 6%, led by India. Kotecha was direct about the current season: "So far this year, we are more than satisfied because of the summer."

Two Very Different Theories of India

PepsiCo's India thesis rests on brand loyalty, portfolio premiumisation and localisation. It has launched Jowar Puffs under Kurkure for markets where the product is culturally familiar, not nationally marketed. It is building out Nimbooz in hydration and has entered premium energy drinks with AdRush.

Reliance thinks differently. In a country where most people count every rupee, being cheap and available everywhere matters more than having a famous name.

India is one of only 13 markets in the world that PepsiCo's New York headquarters considers a priority. That is no small thing. But try explaining that to a teenager in Patna or a college student in Coimbatore, standing in front of a local grocery store fridge, deciding between a cold Campa at ₹10 and a cold Pepsi at ₹20. That, more than any boardroom announcement, is where this battle will actually be decided.