India, Jan. 28 -- India's regional beverage makers are discovering that cutting sugar, not prices, may be the next growth lever as they give established aerated beverage players a run for their share in the mass market. They are rolling out low- and no-sugar flavoured soda variants to tap a growing base of young, health-conscious consumers in their core markets. Seeing rising demand for low- and no-sugar drinks, Punjab-based Lahori Zeera plans to launch a stevia-based version of its flagship drink by March, co-founder and chief operating officer Nikhil Doda told Mint. While the company is introducing a zero-sugar option, Doda defended the nutritional profile of its existing products, saying they are not perceived as 'junk' because they combine sugar, salt and lemon juice. "It kind of acts as an electrolyte, it's like ORS," he said, adding that oral rehydration solutions contain sugar and salt, but aren't viewed as sugary beverages. The pricing is competitive to lure new consumers into the niche segment. The company's sugar-free variant will be sold at an entry-level Rs.10 maximum retail price for a 200ml bottle. The regular variant is also priced Rs.10 for a 160ml bottle, Doda said. Sugar-free variants are typically priced higher, say industry experts. Santosh Sreedhar, partner at Avalon Consulting, said sugar alternatives are more expensive than sugar itself and sales volumes are lower, which is why sugar-free drinks typically retail at a 30-50% premium over regular variants as brands use the segment to tap a niche, higher-paying consumer base. In south India, House of Bindu, a Karnataka-based legacy player, was the pioneer of introducing jeera into the market way back in 2002. The brand introduced a range of fruit juices made of kokum in December 2025. "Earlier, our products used to have 14-15% sugar," said Sathya Sankar, managing director of House of Bindu, which makes the popular Bindu jeera drink. "Now all our new products have only 6-7% of sugar," he said. Sankar said the brand wants to cater to the price-conscious consumers, who are also health-conscious. "We are increasingly seeing youngsters wanting low-sugar drinks," said Sankar. The brand plans to launch coconut water using natural sugar and is also exploring plans to make its hero product, the Bindu jeera, sugar-free in the coming year. "The new range of products will be priced in the same range as the ones with sugar, as I believe in producing quality products and passing on the value to the ultimate consumer," said Sankar. Aliasgar Hajoori, a fourth-generation entrepreneur, director at Sosyo Hajoori, a 103-year-old legacy player based in Surat, Gujarat, believes sugar is still a dominating factor when it comes to the broader beverage market, but low-sugar and no-sugar is catching up. Reliance Consumer Products Ltd (RCPL), the FMCG arm of Reliance Retail Ventures, acquired a 50% equity stake in Sosyo Hajoori Beverages Pvt. Ltd in January 2023, with the Hajoori family retaining the rest. The company, led by Abbas Hajoori and his son Aliasgar, makes legacy Indian drinks, including the flagship Sosyo, a soda made using grapes and apples. The partnership is a part of RCPL's broader beverage push, which includes its own revival of the Campa brand. Campa now includes sugar-free variants such as Campa Cola Zero Sugar and a Campa Energy Drink Zero Sugar, offering classic cola and energy tastes without added sugar. The brand is looking to cater to the growing niche segment of consumers who seek non-sugar variants and is planning to launch a low- to no-sugar variant of their beverages sometime next year....