by NEHA BHATT
(A very good news that natural/refreshing drinks are being sold in a hygienic manner, and at the same time, putting a gradual dent in the cola sales. But sadly, this is happening at the expense of street vendors. The government or some vendor-sympathetic NGO/s should step in to save the street vendors by providing them with these type of kiosks at interest free loans. Ed.)
Squeezed A Coco Loco outlet in Delhi, India
It doesn’t make anyone go “Brrrr”. It doesn’t get Sehwag to hit the ‘upar cut’ or Dhoni his helicopter shot after a sip. But God’s own packaged cool drink, ‘nariyal paani’, could take some fizz out of the colas this summer. The snazzy Coco Loco kiosks that have cropped up outside malls in metros selling coconut water (plain, strawberry, tea-lemon or green apple) are barely able to keep up with the queues.
Sattu sherbet, aam panna, bel juice, lassi, chaach, thandai, shikanji, jaljeera, sugarcane juice, they are all fighting for shelf space at the neighbourhood supermarket. The hook—it’s the real health drink. “Colas have never been a drink of preference, and for people like me who’re petrified of having aam panna or cane juice off the street, this is great news,” says Arti Jaiman, a Gurgaon-based radio station director. And like Arti, those wary of roadside vendors have reason to cheer as clean, sanitised juice kiosks are mushrooming just around the corner.