Duke and Sons Pvt. Ltd was an Indian manufacturing company based in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

. Established in 1889, Duke produced and marketed

soft drink A soft drink (see #Terminology, § Terminology for other names) is a class of non-alcoholic drink, usually (but not necessarily) Carbonated water, carbonated, and typically including added Sweetness, sweetener. Flavors used to be Natural flav ...

s. It was originally owned by the Pandole family, a well-known

Parsi The Parsis or Parsees () are a Zoroastrian ethnic group in the Indian subcontinent. They are descended from Persian refugees who migrated to the Indian subcontinent during and after the Arab-Islamic conquest of Iran in the 7th century, w ...

business name. In 1994, the company was acquired by

Pepsi Pepsi is a Carbonated water, carbonated soft drink with a cola flavor, manufactured by PepsiCo which serves as its flagship product. In 2023, Pepsi was the second most valuable soft drink brand worldwide behind Coca-Cola; the two share a long ...

, which relaunched the ''Duke's'' brand in 2011 through its Indian subsidiary.PepsiCo plans to relaunch Duke's beverages
by Sagar Malviya on Economic Times, 18 Oct 2011

History

Duke and Sons was founded by Dinshawji Cooverji Pandole. An avid cricketer, Dinshawji named his company after a cricket ball manufacturing company, Duke & Sons. The company used to manufacture Tango, Raspberry, Ginger, Pineapple,

Lemonade Lemonade is a sweetened lemon-flavored drink. There are many varieties of lemonade found throughout the world. In some parts of the world, lemonade refers to an un-carbonated, traditionally, homemade drink, using lemon juice, water, and a sw ...

and Mangola drinks under the "Duke's" brand. The Pandole family ran the company until 1994, when it was sold to

PepsiCo PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase, New York, Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the f ...

. When sold, Duke's had a 55% market share in the segments it operated in Mumbai and

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

. Originally, Duke's manufactured lemonade from a shed in

Byculla Byculla (ISO: Bhāykhaḷā; pronunciation: ʱaːjkʰəɭaː is an area of South Mumbai. Location Byculla is neighboured by Nagpada and Mumbai Central and Mahalaxmi on the west; Agripada, Jacob Circle on the north-west: Chinchpokli to t ...

and later at ''Khetwadi'' areas of Mumbai. Its products were distributed by

bullock cart A bullock cart or ox cart (sometimes called a Carriage#Bullock carriage, bullock carriage when carrying people in particular) is a two-wheeled or four-wheeled vehicle pulled by oxen. It is a means of transportation used since ancient times in m ...

and distribution was limited to Mumbai until 1940, when the company acquired Ford trucks. By 1989, the company had 90 distribution trucks. In 1970, the company established a manufacturing unit in the suburb of

Chembur Chembur (pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, ͡ʃembuːɾ is an upmarket large suburb in central Mumbai, India. It belongs on the harbour line of suburban railways and offers the best connectivity with Mumbai Monorail, Santacruz- Chembur Link R ...

, with a production capacity of 19,000 crates per shift.A.H. Advani on '' Business India'' #291–299, p. 94 (1989) When

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

first launched in India in the 1950s, Duke's launched Mangola, a mango flavoured juice drink to survive competition. Duke's Gingerade was popularly used when people had eaten too much or had an upset stomach, while the Raspberry drink was a favourite at Parsi weddings as well as a children's favourite. The Duke's brand is synonymous with Irani cafés in Mumbai. Pepsico manufactured the drinks until 2004, when it discontinued all the drinks apart from Lemonade and Mangola. The decision was based on the fact that the drinks were marketed only in western India, while Pepsico wanted to concentrate on its national brands. In December 2011, Pepsico announced that it was reviving the old flavours under the Duke's brand. Apart from reviving old drinks Raspberry soda, Gingerade and Ice-Cream soda, Pepsico announced the launch of a new drink, ''Mumbai Masala Soda'' under the Duke's brand. The relaunch included a bright new PET packaging as well as retro glass bottles in addition to an increased margin for small retailers, enticing them to prominently display the bottles in their shops. Pepsi relaunched Duke's Soda as well, as part of a strategy to increase market share with the help of regional brands. In 2017, PepsiCo sold the defunct Duke's plant at Chembur for about Rs170

crore Crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes the quantity ten million (107) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. In many international contexts, the decimal quantity is formatted as 10,000,000, but when used in the context of the India ...

.PepsiCo sells defunct Duke’s plant for Rs170 crore to Wadhwa Group
on Live Mint

Products

Duke's Mangola

Duke's Mangola is a

mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree '' Mangifera indica''. It originated from the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South and Southeast As ...

flavoured drink marketed by

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. Originally owned by the Pundole family and part of Duke and Sons, Mangola was launched in the 1950s to counter

. Duke's was sold to Pepsico in 1994. Though Pepsico phased out most drinks under the Duke's brand in 2004, it retained lemonade and Mangola. Marketed in western India, Duke's Mangola was the market leader in the segment in that region. Pepsico has been slowly merging Mangola with its other mango based drink, Slice. As of 2010, only one franchise of Mangola had been retained in

, since it was loyal to the brand.

Duke's Lemonade

Duke's Lemonade is a lemon based aerated drink marketed in

since 1889. The brand has a presence in western India. Originally owned by Duke and Sons, the brand was sold to

in 1994. Pepsico phased out most drinks under the Duke's brand in 2004, though it retained Duke's Lemonade. Not only was Duke's Lemonade retained, in the same year Pepsico launched a new advertisement campaign in

to promote the brand, with a new tagline, "takatak taajgi". Duke's Lemonade was once a favorite in Irani cafés. It is also used as a mixer with

alcohol Alcohol may refer to: Common uses * Alcohol (chemistry), a class of compounds * Ethanol, one of several alcohols, commonly known as alcohol in everyday life ** Alcohol (drug), intoxicant found in alcoholic beverages ** Alcoholic beverage, an alco ...

based drinks. In an interview in 2008, ''Ramesh Chauhan'' of Parle said that he had approached the owners of Duke's Lemonade, requesting them to share the formula for the drink with the promise not to market it in India, which was turned down. Chauhan decided to come up with his own formula, which he launched under the Limca brand in 1977.

Controversies

An investigation by '' The Financial Express'' in 2005 revealed that a sealed bottle of Duke's Lemonade contained a hair clip. Pepsico issued a statement stating that glass bottles go through an air wash system and are physically checked before reuse. The company attributed the incident to the possibility of the object being stuck to the bottom of the bottle, making it difficult to detect. In 2006, Indian authorities tested leading cola brands, including Duke's Lemonade and found that they contained high level of

pesticides Pesticides are substances that are used to pest control, control pest (organism), pests. They include herbicides, insecticides, nematicides, fungicides, and many others (see table). The most common of these are herbicides, which account for a ...

References

{{PepsiCo Indian drink brands PepsiCo brands Food and drink companies established in 1889 Food and drink companies disestablished in 1994 1889 establishments in India Indian companies disestablished in 1994 Manufacturing companies of India