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Meet the man known as the "Cola King of India" worth 152,130 CR. 1. Born in 1953 to a traditional Marwari family, Ravi Jaipuria had business in his genes. His father, Chunni Lal Jaipuria, became Coca-Cola's bottling franchisee, but the 1977 foreign exchange laws meant game over for Coke in India. He had to do something. 🤔 2. As Coke left India, the Jaipurias started bottling the growing local brand Thums Up. But their fate had something else written. In 1985, Ravi's wife died in a plane crash, and the business divided between three Jaipuria brothers in 1987. Ravi, the youngest of three brothers, had the most challenging task. 👇 3. He had to take charge of their Agra bottling plant. While he was understanding the business, Pepsi entered India in 1991. It was looking to beat Thums Up, who had taken Coke's 80% market share just 13 years after it left. Ravi was thinking and then took a big step. 🙌 4. He switched gears and struck a deal with Pepsi as their bottling partners. With the new approach, he incorporated a fresh company named after his son. On 16th June 1995, Varun Beverages Limited (VBL) was born. 🚀 5. Ravi had started operations in Jaipur, but Coca-Cola came with a bang after acquiring Thums Up from Parle in 1993. In response, Ravi expanded operations to the adjoining cities of Alwar, Jodhpur and Kosi. In 1997, he became the first Indian to win Pepsi's Bottler of the Year award. And then 2003 happened. 👇 6. Pepsi and Coke's 12 brands got scrutinised for having 40 times higher than permitted pesticides. Their sales dropped by 40%, and the 1.5 billion dollar Indian soft drink market faced an existential crisis. Amidst such a time came the first female CEO in Pepsi's 44-year-old history - Indra Nooyi. 🧍‍♀️ 7. In 2007 - She launched Pepsi’s new mission - Performance with Purpose”, reducing sugar and sodium in Pepsi’s core snacks and sodas. By 2014, Pepsi grew by 11% to reach 9000 CR in sales from India, and Ravi wrote this history from Pepsi's 42 Indian plants. India had become its fastest-growing market. 📉 8. On 8th November 2016, VBL debuted with an 1112.50 CR IPO that was oversubscribed by 1.86 times. By 2018, it also won the contract to exclusively promote Tropicana and Gatorade in territories across North and East India. VBL clocked sales of 3958.5 CR.💰 9. VBL became a global name and won contracts to distribute PepsiCo's products in Nepal, Sri Lanka, Morocco, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Still, India remained its heartland and contributed 80% of its 13429.40 CR in 2022. ✅ 10. Today, VBL clocks revenue of 16,400 CR. It is present in 6 countries and 27 Indian states and is Pepsi's second-largest franchisee outside the USA, contributing 90% of Pepsi sales in India. It is worth 209,471 CR. 💪 Ravi Jaipuria is worth 152,130 CR. He is rightly known as the "Cola King of India". 🇮🇳