The Hindu Business Line : Perfetti likely to pump in Rs 200 cr

CONFECTIONERY market leader Perfetti van Melle India Pvt Ltd is expected to invest Rs 150 crore-Rs 200 crore in the country over two years in marketing and brand building and to increase its manufacturing capacity.

The company, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Italian parent, has set up its first manufacturing plant outside India - in Bangladesh with a Rs 20-crore investment. It will also increase capacity at the two existing plants in Manesar (Haryana) and Chennai.

"Over the last decade, Perfetti van Melle (PVM) has invested between Rs 500 crore and Rs 600 crore in India. We doubled our turnover to over Rs 400 crore last year and expect to post at least Rs 450 crore sales turnover in 2004," the Managing Director, Mr Stefano Pelle, told Business Line.

Mr Pelle said the Bangladesh plant is expected to become operational in six to eight weeks. PVM India looks after operations in several neighbouring countries including Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan, Maldives and Myanmar, he said.

The new facility would manufacture some existing products sold in India and a few new ones that are being finalised. Besides investment in augmenting capacities, the company spends a significant amount of money in providing advertising support to its 13 main brands in the country.

The Head-Marketing, Mr Sameer Suneja, said, "We spend between 10 and 15 per cent of our net sales on advertising each year."

Mr Suneja said after Perfetti Italy, PVM India is the second largest company in the Perfetti group in terms of sales volumes worldwide and has several firsts to its credit.

For instance, India is the only `Cofitos' producing operation across the globe and the product is exported to several countries from here.

Mr Pelle said since January, the company has launched 12 products across several categories. It also forayed into the 15,000 tonnes per annum chocolate éclairs market with `Chocotella' and the digestives market with `Chatarpatar'. Three or four more products could be launched by December.

Meanwhile, the company announced the launch of `Happydent Protex', a specially formulated sugar-free chewing gum containing Xylitol, which it claims helps prevent tooth decay. It said Xylitol is a non-sugar sweetener that helps contain bacterial growth in teeth.

PVM India has a 25 per cent share of the Rs 1,600-crore organised confectionery market.

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