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Premium ice cream brand Baskin Robbins has recorded a 38 per cent growth in business in FY23, the highest in the last five years, as prolonged summer heat and shifting consumer preference towards premiumisation drove the sales growth in the previous fiscal.
“Our business has grown much beyond the pre-Covid levels. In 2021-22, we grew over 30 per cent and in the last year (2022-23), our business grew by 37-38 per cent,” Mohit Khattar, CEO, Graviss Foods Pvt Ltd.
Graviss Foods is the master franchise for Baskin Robbins for India and the SAARC region.
Khattar, however, added that the 30 per cent plus sales growth is not sustainable due to rise in raw material prices and other macroeconomic challenges.
“As an industry, the biggest challenge is the increase in the price of raw materials such as milk and cream products, which are going up every month,” he added.
Also read: Relish more desi flavours of beverages, ice-creams this summer
Khattar said, fortunately, the demand for ice cream continues to remain strong and that the company has also not passed on the raw material price increase to the consumers. “We will wait for the peak season to get over. We will then assess the market and take a call (on price rise),” he added.
According to industry estimates, 40-50 per cent of yearly ice cream sales happen in the first six months of the year.
South expansion
One of the world’s largest ice cream brands, Baskin Robbins will complete 30 years of operations in India this year. It currently has 850 parlours in over 239 cities. Khattar said the company is planning to add 100 more outlets in FY24. Most of the expansion would be through its franchise model while the company would also open some of its own stores.
“Nearly 40 out of the 100 new outlets will come up in south India,” Khattar said, adding that more than one-fourth of Baskin Robbins’ parlours and sales comes from the southern region.
Khattar said, post-Covid there has been a resurgence in sales through offline outlets. “At one point, share of online sales was about 40-45 per cent but now it has come down to around 30 per cent because offline sales has picked up strongly.”
Baskin Robbins currently has 16 parlours in Chennai and the company plans to add four-six parlours in the market every year.
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