The Hindu Business Line : Seabuckthorn Indage plans home, personal care foray

The company is now test-marketing the Kingsbury brand of toilet soaps, floor disinfectants, toilet cleaners and washing powder in some pockets of the northern market.

Chennai , July 10

Makers of the Leh Berry range of nectar drinks, Seabuckthorn Indage Ltd, is planning to diversify into home and personal care (HPC) products, bottled water, confectionery, biscuits, specialty cosmetics and OTC pharma category — all, excepting HPC products, under the umbrella brand Leh Berry, Mr M.S. Dhanota, President, Seabuckthorn Indage, told Business Line.

The company also plans to extend the Leh Berry brand to a range of `100 per cent' fruit juices and fruit drinks soon. "All these products will be rolled out before the first quarter of next year," Mr Dhanota said, adding, "and we have earmarked Rs 10 crore for advertising."

Exploring other areas

Besides, Seabuckthorn Indage is also planning to explore other areas such as poultry and cattle feed and pisciculture segments for a possible foray.

To manufacture fruit juices and fruit drinks, the company has planned an integrated manufacturing and R&D facility in Himachal Pradesh.

For processing and packaging, the company will leverage the existing arrangement with Godrej Beverages and Foods Ltd in Madhya Pradesh.

Test-marketing Kingsbury

According to Mr Dhanota, the company is now test-marketing the Kingsbury brand of toilet soaps, floor disinfectants, toilet cleaners and washing powder in some pockets of the Northern market. "The Kingsbury brand, owned by our parent — Indage Group — is already popular in the UK. So, launching them in India under the same brand name should not be a difficult deal for us," claimed Mr Dhanota.

He said talks are in advanced stage with local mineral water manufacturers for `Leh Berry Aqua' bottled water. For confectionery and biscuits, the company has tied up with a foreign brand for technical know-how and will outsource the products to local manufacturers. "Once the volume picks up, we may go in for our own facility here," said Mr Dhanota. In the biscuits segment, the company plans to roll out initially glucose, Marie and coconut biscuits.

For specialty cosmetics, another area the company is planning to diversify into, the company claims to have the formula ready. Mr Dhanota said, the formula for the premium-end specialty cosmetic range is based on seabuckthorn and has already been lab-tested.

Distribution chain

The company, which was till recently focusing on the Northern markets, has launched its range of Leh Berry nectars in the South and appointed a main distributor for the purpose. "We will initially roll out our products in major department stores and some select outlets till we put an extensive distribution chain in place, then we will expand our retail presence in the South," he said.

It is learnt that the company will meet the funds requirement for the expansion and diversifications plans through internal accruals to begin with. "Then, we may explore the possibility of an IPO by the end of 2007," said Mr Dhanota.

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