The Hindu Business Line : Britannia to explore new international markets

New Delhi, July 18 With a plan to take its share of exports from the current 5 per cent to 10 per cent over the next few years, Britannia is exploring forays into new markets. The biscuit maker has just started operations in Sri Lanka, and plans to launch at least four to five new products in other international markets.

Ghee export

“We are also looking at ghee very seriously, and exploring the possibilities of exporting it to West Asia and Far East countries,” said Mr T. N. Nandakumar, Regional Manager – International business. The new markets being evaluated for the export of ghee are the UAE, Singapore and Malaysia amongst others.

With the Indian diaspora already hooked onto its products, Britannia, which sells in the US, Canada and Southern Africa, is looking to tweak tastes and portfolio for other American citizens. It will be launching a new cream biscuit, “the Oreo kind”, and pushing its digestive range, cream crackers, and Nutrichoice, which has been doing well in the international markets and is preferred by a more health-conscious consumer. “We already have the Indian diaspora taken care of, now we are looking at the average American consumer, and other communities with different palettes. We would like to be in certain States, that we are identifying, which we believe are more stable for our business,” he said.

It already exports to Malaysia and Singapore. The West Asian and central Asian markets of Jordan, Yemen and Iran are being catered to by the companies in which it acquired a majority stake last year — the Dubai-based Strategic Foods International LLC and the Oman-based Al Sallan Food Industries, through its association with the Khimji Ramdas Group.

It also plans to target East Africa and Madagascar through its own Indian operations. Mr Nandakumar said that prices for Britannia’s products had been raised in markets abroad too, but the rising costs issue was something that consumers understood.