Creambell to set up ice-cream plant in eastern region

Creambell, one of the fastest growing ice-cream brands in India, plans to set up a new plant in the eastern region.

Nitin Arora, CEO, Creambell, said: “We have three production facilities – in Baddi in Himachal Pradesh and Kosi near Agra, which cater to demand in the northern region. Our plant in Goa caters to the southern and western regions. We are now looking at a plant in the eastern region.”

He said the company expects the new plant to come up in 12-18 months. It is also expanding the capacity of the Kosi plant by 25 per cent.

Arora said the company has earmarked investments worth Rs 275 crore between 2010 and 2015 for capacity expansion and research and development.

“Early this year, we notched up market share to become one among the top five pan-India ice cream players and hope to be among the top three by 2017 financial year end,” he added.

Owned by Ravi Jaipuria-promoted RJ Corp, Creambell was launched in 2003.

The company is present across most States.

“In South India, we have presence in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

“We are not present in Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Kerala and are contemplating entering these States in two-three years,” Arora said.

The organised ice-cream market in India is pegged at Rs 3,500 crore and is growing at 20-25 per cent year-on-year.

On the challenging economic conditions, Arora said the company had to increase prices of its products by 6-8 per cent this year to keep costs under control and at the same time ensure quality standards were maintained.

He said ice-cream sales witnessed challenges due to weather patterns and macroeconomic conditions, but the company managed to grow by about 30 per cent over last year.

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