Rubicon, an international exotic beverage brand, is facing immense competition from other beverage brands due to favorable trade conditions in the UAE. To stand out in the market, the brand is channeling its resources into developing localized flavors, like dragon fruit and red grape.
Jose Jacob, Rubicon’s sales and marketing director, believes UAE’s political and economic stability and high tourism were driving the market growth. He said Rubicon has limited its product range due to stricter F&B standards around added sugar and carbonated beverages in the United Arab Emirates. Thus, the brand offers organic juices with no added sugar.
“The competition is extremely intense. We are not competing with only juice brands, but with almost every beverage in the chiller, whether it’s an energy drink, malt beverage, dairy-based drink, or flavored water. A consumer has too many choices when they are thirsty or want to refresh themselves.”
Jacob pointed out that new products are coming in all the time as it’s not very difficult to import into the region. “If I may put it, there is constant chaos in the beverage category with a lot of new products coming in. Brands will come and go, and it’s only the survival of the fittest.” Jacob said there are not a lot of companies who have the flexibility to customize products for this market as there is minimum order size and they tend to manufacture huge quantities for single products.
The executive acknowledged that people who live in Dubai or the UAE are very well-aware of global trends. “They come from all over the world and are very well-connected with the rest of the world. Therefore, there’s a lot of pressure to really be on our toes, and we can’t take it easy. Unlike some other markets we operate in globally, consumers are happy that they’re just getting the product. They don’t care about innovation, they don’t care about flavors, they don’t care about sugar levels, nothing.”
Jacob added that the UAE is a very demanding market. For brands and products to stand out, companies need to keep it between what the market needs.
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