AGAIN is gearing up to offset the huge gap in the ready-to-drink beverage market in India.
According to the beverage start-up promoted by serial entrepreneurs, Vaitheeswaran K and  co-founder Sundeep Thakran, the product, claimed to be the only drink range that contains low-fat dairy (milk or yoghurt), real fruits, nuts, vegetables and natural sweeteners.
“This is an exciting time for the beverage market in India. Currently pegged at Rs 43,034 crore, it is expected to touch Rs 1,30,000 crore by 2030. In my opinion, it is the Rs-10,680-crore health drink segment that has the best prospects,” said Vaitheeswaran.
“Given the growing interest in health and wellness among urban consumers, beverages that bring together the best of nutrition and taste are the ones to watch out for. Besides, dairy-based drinks have a huge untapped market,” he added.
“Our product contains zero refined sugar and no added preservatives, artificial flavours or colours. Moreover, the beverage is extremely wholesome as they contain puree or paste and not juice or concentrate,” said Vaitheeswaran.
“Considering the broken and poor quality of cold chain in India, the drinks have been specially created to be stored at ambient temperature without requiring refrigeration, allowing convenient, on-the-go use cases. This is a huge breakthrough from a process and formulation point of view,” he added.
“At a time when retail shelves are inundated with sugary fizzy drinks and tasteless health drinks, AGAIN is ready to grow the tasty and healthy food trend in India,” said Vaitheeswaran.
“It is positioned as the perfect pick-me-up for office meetings, a refreshing companion to the gym, a cool ice-breaker at social gatherings and a mid-day snack at work or home. Therefore, we see AGAIN is for  every occasion,” he added.
The founders spotted a huge gap in the ready-to-drink beverage market in India. Right now, consumers are forced to choose between delicious and nutritious.
“Our key research entailed tasting and sampling with over 1,000 consumers, and their feedback has been valuable is product development,” said Vaitheeswaran and Thakran.
“It was important for us to get a product development partner with over 20 years of experience in food research and development (R&D) on-board,” they added.
“We started making the product in our kitchens, and after many trials and errors, we zeroed in on the recipes that worked. The whole process took us about two years,” Vaitheeswaran and Thakran said.
Four variants of AGAIN have been pilot launched in select retail outlets in Bengaluru and online grocery stores. Shortly, the range will be available across retail chains in key cities.
It offers two variants of double-toned (low-fat) milk drink – almonds, cashews and dates, and strawberry, chocolate and jaggery – and two variants of double-toned (low-fat) yoghurt drink – Alphonso mango; and carrot, orange and banana.
Commenting on the brand’s USP (unique selling proposition), Thakran stated, “It has been an exciting challenge to create a range of beverages that rank high on nutrition as well as flavour.”
“Instead of refined sugar, we have used honey and jaggery as healthy substitutes. AGAIN drinks have 100 per cent natural ingredients, with the highest fruit/vegetable content, that too as puree and not juice or concentrate, as compared to any other beverage or dairy product in the market,” he added.