The Hindu Business Line : GraceKennedy open to acquisitions in India

Retail plans
The Jamaica-based firm is foraying into India through a strategic tie-up with Dalmia Continental Pvt Ltd.
Initially, the products would be imported from its units in Thailand and Jamaica.

Debdatta Das

New Delhi, Aug. 15 Caribbean FMCG giant GraceKennedy said it would explore options of acquisitions and setting up a manufacturing unit, once it achieves a critical mass in its operations in India.

The company recently said that it would launch its Grace brand of processed foods and beverages by end of next month in the country.

Product Offerings

“As planned, we will be launching the Grace brand in India by the end of September 2007. Initially our products would be imported from our units in Thailand and Jamaica. However, we might look at options of acquisitions, contract manufacturing or setting up a greenfield unit in India, as and when we reach the designated scales of economy,” said Mr Douglas Orane, Chairman and CEO, GraceKennedy Ltd.

The Jamaica-based firm is foraying into India through a strategic marketing and distribution tie-up with the Delhi based Dalmia Continental Pvt Ltd. The Indian firm also distributes and markets products such as Leonardo Olive Oil, Hudson Canola Oil and has interests in banking, insurance, dairy products, jute paper, distilleries and cement amongst others. GraceKennedy, the largest marketers of food and beverage items such as sauces, juice drinks, juice powder mixes and processed meat in the Caribbean, will introduce only a part of its product offerings here initially.

Contract Manufacturers

“We will launch products like instant noodle soups, processed meats, juice drinks, coconut water and milk initially, since all of these items are well accepted in India. We will then roll out other products such as our powder drink mixes, ready to eat flavoured porridges, cheese and canned vegetables, having gauged requirements of the Indian consumer,” said Mr Orane.

GraceKennedy, a $620 million firm, sells its products across 36 countries through its five manufacturing units in the Caribbean and the UK, as well as through its other contract manufacturers in other parts of the world.

Retail presence

“In India we plan to have a presence at all the major retail chains and also through as many neighbourhood outlets as possible. Also, we have a robust marketing and promotional strategy in place that we will reveal once we have launched our products by the end of the next month,” said Mr Orane. The prices of all the products will be extremely competitive with the rest of the brand available in the Indian market, he added.

The company believes that its entry into India was given a further leverage through its acquisition of the UK based WT Foods, producers of Afro-Caribbean foods that catered to the large Indian Diaspora in that country.

GraceKennedy, that covers over 60 per cent of the foods and beverages market in Jamaica, began as a finance and trading company and in 1995 turned into a consumer group operating through over 60 subsidiaries in the areas of food processing, finance and trading.

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