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K. V. Kurmanath

Hyderabad, Oct.12 Backed by over one lakh sq ft of Fresh@ retail space and changing consumer buying patterns, Heritage Foods has decided to give a big push to the non-traditional retail milk products business.

The company has readied a host of products, which includes flavoured milk and plain milk in packaged cartons; ghee, paneer, butter, ice cream and curd in cups.

“We are going to sell these products through our Fresh@ outlets and multi-outlet supermarket chains such as Reliance. We would also sell to other retailers through our distributors,” Mr M.S. Rao, President of Heritage Foods (India) Ltd, said.

Heritage, promoted by former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Mr N Chandrababu Naidu’s wife Ms N. Bhuvaneswari, registered a turnover of Rs 345 crore in 2006-07. Of this, non-traditional milk products contributed about 15 per cent.

“We don’t expect the contribution from this segment to grow significantly this financial year. But the market access being created in the next six months would certainly help us see better growth next year,” he said.

Initially, Heritage is looking at sales of three lakh litres of white milk and four-five lakh packets of flavoured milk (both cartons). The market size for flavoured milk in this format is 2.5 lakh packs a day.

Currently, the company is outsourcing its packing needs. “We will look at starting our own packing when we reach the necessary numbers,” Mr Rao said. “We have been selling some of these products in a small way in certain pockets. But what prompted us is our retail reach and increasing demand for milk in longer shelf-life formats,” he pointed out.

The company would complete the roll-out of these products in all its 40 Fresh@ outlets by the month-end, before opening up sales through the distribution network. The company would focus on Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh initially.

Besides Hyderabad and important cities, it is looking at selling these in milk-deficient areas such as Khammam and other areas in Telangana.

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