How an Indian Soda Beat Coca-Cola and Pepsi at Their Own Game

I was helping a client launch a bottled drink when I discovered something wild:

An Indian soft drink brand beat Coca-Cola and Pepsi on their own turf.

Not just competed—dominated.

Here's how Thums Up became India's first billion-dollar soft drink brand (in chronological order, because I'm obsessive like that):

• 1947: India gains independence • 1949: India's Pure Group brings Coca-Cola into the market • 1962: Pepsi exits India after years of failing to gain traction • 1970: Pure Group launches their own drink, Campa-Cola (side note: billionaire Mukesh Ambani just bought this brand to relaunch it) • 1977: New government regulations force Coca-Cola to exit India when they refuse to give up majority ownership

This created a massive vacuum in the market. The government tried launching their own drink (called Double Seven) that bombed spectacularly.

Enter the Chauhan brothers—Ramesh and Prakash.

These guys saw the gap and moved fast. After months of experimentation, they created something different: a drink that was bolder, fizzier, and spicier than Coca-Cola.

They called it "Thums Up."

But here's the genius part: they designed it specifically for Indian conditions. The drink maintained its fizziness even when not ice-cold—critical in a country where refrigeration was rare and electricity unreliable.

By 1980, Thums Up dominated the Indian market.

The story could end there, but it gets better:

• 1989: After intense lobbying, Pepsi re-enters India • 1991: Economic liberalization opens India to foreign companies • 1993: Coca-Cola returns and immediately buys... Thums Up

Coca-Cola's initial plan? Kill the brand that beat them.

They tried suppressing Thums Up to boost Coke sales, but this backfired spectacularly. Consumers just switched to Pepsi instead.

Realizing their mistake, Coca-Cola reversed course and invested heavily in the brand they tried to bury.

Today, Thums Up is still India's best-selling soft drink and the only billion-dollar brand in Coca-Cola India's portfolio.

The lesson? Sometimes your biggest competition isn't your obvious competitor—it's the local solution perfectly adapted to local conditions.

And sometimes the smartest strategy isn't fighting your competition, but acquiring and embracing it.