Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Saturday, Sep 11, 2004
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Saturday, Sep 11, 2004 |
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Marketing
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Brands Amrit Foods plans to revive Big Sipp brand Sindhu J. Bhattacharya
New Delhi , Sept. 10 AMRIT Foods is planning to bring back its brand Big Sipp in a new avatar, several years after it was withdrawn from the market. Only, this time, it won't be soya milk. The company plans to bring it back as Gagan Big Sipp pouches, packed with flavoured milk, and use the new brand launch for a national foray. Amrit Foods, which is a division of the Rs 600-crore Amrit Vanaspati, already sells flavoured milk in glass bottles under its flagship brand `Gagan' in Delhi and neighbouring markets. Big Sipp will be used for launching the product in remaining markets across the country. Amrit Foods has invested Rs 1 crore in developing and importing packaging for Gagan Big Sipp in the form of aseptic pouch packaging, giving the milk a shelf life of two months and pricing much lower than brandsalready present in cartons. "We decided to launch an entirely new brand for flavoured milk, since this will be specifically targeted at smaller towns where affordability is an issue. Also, with Gagan Big Sipp, Amrit Foods will reach new markets like Chhattisgarh and parts of South India," the Managing Director, Mr Ashwini Bajaj, told Business Line. He said the company developed the special aseptic packaging in collaboration with Du Pont Canada and all packaging for Gagan Big Sipp has been imported. "The special packaging comprises EVOH-based (ethylene vinyl alcohol) plastic film, which acts as a barrier against moisture. This ensures longer shelf life," he said. At present, the packaged flavoured milk market is estimated to be worth Rs 50 crore, with about 10 per cent growth annually. Other players present in this market include the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, which recently re-launched Amul Shakti as `Kool' flavoured milk and National Dairy Development Board's pouches sold in Delhi and the National Capital Region, market sources said. Britannia's Milkman flavoured milk brand was withdrawn recently, they said, adding that Nestle is the only other player with its `Fruit n Milk' variant. Mr Bajaj said that having invested in research and development in the new, cost-effective packaging, Amrit Foods is looking at aggressively expanding the market for its flavoured milk; in the first phase, Gagan Big Sipp will be launched in Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. The brand is priced at Rs 10 for a 250 ml pouch. Besides Gagan Big Sipp, the company has Gagan long-life ultra high temperature (UHT) milk and is the supplier for McDonalds Soft-serves and Shakes. It also partly supplies the flavoured milk sold by NDDB. Mr Bajaj said Amrit Foods is in talks with several parties in Iran, Afghanistan and other neighbouring countries for exporting Gagan UHT milk. He said the company is eyeing Rs 22-crore sales turnover this year against Rs 15 crore in 2003-04.
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