Double Seven (soft drink)

Double Seven
TypeCola
ManufacturerModern Food Industries
Country of origin India
Introduced1977; 47 years ago (1977)
DiscontinuedYes
FlavourCola
VariantsDouble Seven Tingle (lemon-lime soft drink)
Related productsThums Up, Campa Cola

Double Seven was an Indian soft drink brand. It was manufactured and marketed by the Indian government after Coca-Cola quit the Indian market in 1977 due to changes in government policies.[1][2][3][4] Double Seven was launched at the annual trade fair at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi as a gift by the then ruling Janata Party.[5]

In 1977, as per the provisions of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act brought by the Morarji Desai government, Coca-Cola was required to reduce its ownership stake of its Indian operation. Coca-Cola along with other United States companies chose to leave India rather than operate under the new laws.[6][7][8]

Developed to fill the void left by Coca-Cola, Double Seven was quickly designed, manufactured and marketed by Modern Food Industries, a government-owned company.[9][10] Double Seven was the winning name in a national competition to name the drink. The formula for the concentrate of Double Seven was developed at Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore. Despite government backing, Double Seven could not dominate the Indian soft drinks market, but the programme was successful in filling the void left by Coca-Cola.[11] Double Seven's main competitors were Campa Cola, Thums Up, Duke's, McDowell's Crush, and Double Cola.[12] Double Seven also had a lemon-lime soft drink known as Double Seven Tingle.[13]

The drink lost market share as Indira Gandhi's government came to power in 1980 and was not interested in supporting a product which reminded them of 1977, the year when Indira Gandhi lost the national elections. During this period, other drinks like Thums Up became very popular.[5] Modern Food Industries gradually slipped into the red and was taken over by Hindustan Lever Limited in January 2000.[14]

Thums Up, which was also launched in 1977 after the departure of Coca-Cola, continued to thrive until its eventual takeover by Coca-Cola.[3]

  1. ^ "Waning days of an Indian soda pop". The New York Times. 23 February 2009. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
  2. ^ India 50: The Making of a Nation (1997), EIndia 50: The Making of a Nation, Ayaz Memon and Book Quest Publishers, p. 145, ISBN 81-8602-506-5{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ a b "How Thums Up became the ruling cola of India". Mercury Brief. 18 October 2009. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
  4. ^ "History". Coca-Cola India. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  5. ^ a b Sunil Lala (1998), American Khichdi, Macmillan Publishers India Limited, p. 25, ISBN 0230-63745-0
  6. ^ "Business: India May Swallow Coke". Time. 22 August 1977. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  7. ^ Mehul Srivastava (9 September 2010). "Coca-Cola Can't Speak Its Name in India as Pepsi Enters Hindi". Bloomberg. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  8. ^ Ramagundam, Rahul (2022). The Life and Times of George Fernandes. Penguin Random House India. p. 348. ISBN 978-0670092888.
  9. ^ Devendra Thakur (1998), Economic Reforms and Industrialisation: Textiles, dairy, cement and mica industries, Deep & Deep Publications, p. 242, ISBN 81-7100-855-0
  10. ^ "Modern Food Industries (India) Limited". Ministry of Food Processing Industries. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
  11. ^ Rajat K. Baisya (2008), Changing Face of Processed Food Industry in India, Ane Books Pvt Ltd, p. 142, ISBN 978-81-8052-166-9
  12. ^ "The brand that refused to die". Business Today. 31 May 2009. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
  13. ^ Manendra Mohan (1989), Advertising Management: Concepts and Cases, Tata McGraw-Hill Education, p. 130, ISBN 9780074517802
  14. ^ "Brief Notes on Privatised Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs)". Department of Disinvestment, Ministry of Finance. Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2012.