Devyani Food Industries, the company that owns ice-cream brand Creambell, launched its operations in Tamil Nadu today and will invest ₹150 crore in phases to strengthen its presence in the state.

The brand is present in 21 states in the northern, central and western regions and in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Goa. Creambell products are priced from ₹5 to ₹50 and its take home category costs between ₹100 and ₹400 a litre.

Addressing mediapersons, Nitin Arora, Chief Executive Officer, said the company plans to strengthen its presence in Tamil Nadu over the next 2-3 years. “In the first phase, we will engage through 1,000 retail outlets, over 100 push carts and e-rickshaws that are battery operated. In the next phase, we will establish 50 exclusive high-end parlour Scoopers and 100 shop-in-shop counters,” he said.

Creambell said it has a 15 per cent market share in the ₹4,500 crore ice-cream market in India and Tamil Nadu accounts for about ₹300 crore. Arora said Tamil Nadu clearly has significant share in the ice-cream market, which gives the company room to grow.

It has production facilities in Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Goa with a total capacity of 50 million litres a year. There are two more plants on the anvil in West Bengal, which will be operational by April end and other in the West. The two plants will take the capacity to 70 million. Beyond India, Creambell has production facilities in Kenya, Zambia, Tanzania and Nepal.

The brand is a part of ₹9,100 crore ($1.4 billion) turnover RJ Corp that has presence in beverages, quick service restaurants, restaurants, coffee chains and life sciences in India and overseas. The company registered revenue of ₹580 crore in 2016.

Published on March 17, 2017