The Hindu Business Line : French dairy major Lactalis enters Indian cheese market

The family-owned Groupe Lactalis has already appointed two local distributors, Karamels and L-Comps & Impex (P) Ltd, to import and market its `President' and `Bridel' brands of cheese in India respectively. "We see good opportunities for the dairy sector in India even though import duties here continue to be very steep," Mr Francois-Xavier Rougagnou, Director, Commercial Exports, Lactalis International, told Business Line here on Thursday.

However, Mr Rougagnou stated that Groupe Lactalis was not considering entering the Indian market through a 100 per cent subsidiary in the short term.

In the initial months, Groupe Lactalis' both the cheese brands will be retailed only in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Goa and Pondicherry. Groupe Lactalis is planning to appoint a third distributor to cater to the southern market for its President cheese brand, Mr Rougagnou said.

While President and Bridel are the flagship brands under the Groupe Lactalis portfolio, other significant brands include Societe, Lactel, Sorrento, Locatelli and Nicolait, among others. The President brand stretches across soft and hard processed cheese, milk, butter and cream while the Bridel brand umbrella includes cheese and butter. Globally, the company sells cheese, liquid milk, butter, yogurts, dairy desserts and cream. Cheese accounts for nearly 50 per cent of Groupe Lactalis' production, followed by liquid milk, fresh dairy products and butter.

According to industry estimates, Groupe Lactalis accounts for 10 per cent of the European Union's cheese production. The Groupe has 65 production bases in France, and 13 overseas.

To begin with, Groupe Lactalis will focus only on importing cheese into India.

However, the imported President and Bridel cheese brand will offer no competition to the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation's (GCMMF) Amul and Britannia, which currently lead in the Rs 250-crore domestic processed cheese market. Admitting the same, Mr Rougagnou said, "We obviously cannot compete with local players on the price front. However, we are hopeful that our brands will be accepted in the metros and bigger cities." Groupe Lactalis' cheese brands are priced at least 40-50 per cent higher than local brands.

According to analysts, since the French market for classical cheeses is getting saturated, Groupe Lactalis has been actively scouting to tap opportunities in emerging markets. The company already has a presence in Asian countries such as Hong Kong, Thailand, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and China.

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