Chip Of The Old Block

Chauhan is the GenNext of Bisleri International, the Rs 1,000 crore brand formed by her father Ramesh Chauhan, the chairman and MD of the company. At 32 years, Jayanti, a former fashion stylist, wants to capture the entire packaged water market within the country. She also aspires to make Bisleri an international brand. Hollywood films and South Indian food are the common interest of both father and daughter. For a short while in 2009, Jayanti did work at Bisleri. But soon she left for London to pursue masters in Arabic before returning. Jayanti has been brought up in Delhi, studied in London and now lives and works in Mumbai where Bisleri has its own manufacturing plant and the corporate office. She says she learns a lot from her father who will be 76-plus this year.

But working at Bisleri did not come easy to Jayanti. She has to make a case for her beliefs and decisions. But her ability to think independently is attributed to her growing years where her father encouraged her to voice her own opinions. Jayanti returned to India to start working in the Bisleri factory at the age of 24. For the first few years, she worked at the Delhi office of Bisleri before moving to Mumbai. Even while she was studying for her master's degree, Jayanti was working on brands like Vedica and Bisleri from London via Skype and conference calls. Her learnings have also been big. Today, she gives due importance to people management. "If the employees are happy, they will give the results you want," she says. That is the reason Bisleri has an open door policy for its employees. Over the years, Jayanti has learned to appreciate the virtues of patience. She feels joining a family business has its own distinct advantages as one gets a platform from where one can build more. But with ready-made platforms comes the big responsibility of growing it even more bigger and better.

The younger Chauhan is busy in expanding on the company's well established brands. Vedica and Urzza, the natural mountain water and energy drink respectively that may soon debut in some of the West Asian markets and in the Far East. Bisleri in India is clocking a healthy double-digit growth. Chauhan feels the business of bottled water is capable of driving high growth in coming years as the per capita consumption grows.

In December last year, Bisleri entered close to 1000 retail outlets across seven emirates in the UAE. This year, the company should expand in around 5000 stores. Bisleri, according to company's MD, is already the No. 1 mineral water brand in India with over 60 per cent share. "It is now introduced in gulf through an association with Korus, which specialises in launching fast moving consumer brands in F&B markets. We already have a strong emotional appeal among the Indian diaspora and with our premium quality bottle, sweet ground water and differentiated colour we are sure to appeal to the cosmopolitan population of the UAE," he had told a business daily a few months ago. For the expansion, Vedica is placed at the upper end, which the company will launch at the appropriate time and as soon as it has a steady distribution network in place. In India, Bisleri Group has several companies under its fold including Parle Bisleri Pvt Ltd and Bisleri Advertising Pvt Ltd among others. In months and years to come, it is clear that the brad Bisleri will be driven by none other than Jayanti Chauhan.