When thirst hits — and Campa is the only choice

It began as a casual remark during a family WhatsApp call. My brother had just come back from Gopalganj – a small town in Bihar where he attended a wedding – and when I enquired about his trip, he sighed, “Campa Cola pi-pi ke thak gaye.” I quipped, “Sprite nahi milta waha?” However, he merely shrugged. “Nahi. Kuch aur hota hi nahi.” 

It reminded me of that old Bihar saying: “Jab tak samose mein hai aloo…” You know the rest. And honestly, the rhyme writes itself for 2025’s beverage landscape: “Galli ho ya bazaar, Bihar ke fridges mein Campa hamesha taiyaar.”

That comment stuck with me longer than it should have. A few days later, a teammate casually mentioned that during her road trips from Delhi to Lucknow, she typically sees Campa-stacked and Campa-labelled fridges in dhaabas, sometimes the only cold beverage chilling in those sunburnt ice boxes. 

And then I realised: even in Mumbai’s ration shops, those Campa-branded fridges often sit right at the entrance. Sure, they stock everything from Thums Up to Limca and other cold beverages, but the fridge branding, the first hit of visibility, belongs to Campa.

Why? What makes Campa so relentlessly present in places where bigger global brands fade into the dust and heat? And why are consumers, by choice or by lack, still reaching for Campa?

Here’s the thing most metro consumers forget: Campa Cola isn’t new. It’s a comeback. Campa Cola was a brand that dominated shelves in the North long before Coke and Pepsi made their debut in India.

Ashish Bhasin, founder of The Bhasin Consulting Group (and former CEO of Dentsu-Asia Pacific), reminded me of the brand immediately: “Campa was a market leader in several northern states… There’s muscle memory that’s been passed down across generations.”

Meanwhile, Lloyd Mathias, angel investor, business strategist and former beverages head at PepsiCo-India & South Asia, breaks down the revival from a distribution lens. According to him, Reliance’s strategy rests on three pillars: aggressive pricing, deep in-house distribution and a sharp focus on smaller towns.

• A 200 ml Campa PET is for Rs 10.
• Competitors? The price for a 250-ml Campa is Rs 20.
• A 500 ml Campa is Rs 20, a 1-litre Rs 40, and a 2-litre Rs 80, typically Rs 10–20 cheaper across sizes.

“Soft drink consumption has moved into the interiors,” he says.

“Urban consumers are more health-conscious; the surge in cola consumption is actually coming from smaller towns, and that’s what Reliance is tapping into.”

Both experts essentially confirm the same truth: in small-town India, the drink that is the cheapest, coldest, and closest wins.

When I asked Bhasin about Campa’s sudden hyper-visibility, he clarified, “More than visibility, it’s availability and the price point.”

Then he explained what that visibility looks like on the ground: “Mass-media advertising, rural wall paintings, highway signage, and point-of-purchase branding all contribute. On a Delhi–Haridwar drive, I saw more Campa branding than Coke and Pepsi combined. Visibility keeps the brand top-of-mind, especially for impulse purchases.”

That single line neatly explains half of small-town India’s beverage map.

In places where the afternoon heat hits 46°C, a chilled drink isn’t a lifestyle choice; it's survival. And the drink that’s cold, cheap, and easiest to access wins.

Bhasin adds, “The deeper you go, the more important the distribution becomes.”

Mathias echoes this with an insight about behaviour in this category: “People may prefer a brand, but if they don’t get it, they’re happy to pick whatever is available.”

Even in larger northern towns where Coke and Pepsi are available, Bhasin notes that preference is slowly shifting back toward Campa, proof that nostalgia plus price plus presence can still beat legacy global giants.

And that “presence” has been engineered.

Jio stores, JioMart delivery vans, telecom service outlets, and Reliance Digital showrooms Reliance dropped Campa into every pipe it already owned.

Mathias is matter-of-fact about the biggest lever: “Soft drinks are an impulse category. When you’re thirsty, you pick what’s in front of you.”

And in today’s India, especially across the vast interior belt, Campa increasingly appears “in front of you”.

He sums it up: “They recognised that many companies don’t have such a deep distribution. Thanks to Jio telecom services, Reliance has penetrated extremely deep into the country—and they’re leveraging that. With their retail outlets and telecom stores, they’re cross-leveraging the entire distribution muscle to push Campa.”

Yes, there is organic demand, but Reliance's strategic push largely drives the visibility you're seeing. They’re heavily invested in cricket as well, partnering with several IPL teams and holding exclusive rights in many stadiums through tie-ups with local cricket associations.