Prabhat Dairy plans to open 500 franchise-based retail outlets — Goodness Zone — in tier-II and -III cities across Maharashtra in the next three years. It has launched value-added milk products such as lassi, buttermilk and milkshakes in small packs to support the initiative.

The company, which already has over 40,000 distributors in Maharashtra, plans to hand-pick franchises that have the requisite real estate and willingness to invest ₹4 lakh in the business. Prabhat Dairy will spend ₹80,000 on the interiors and providing cooling solutions in the retail outlet.

Vivek Nirmal, Joint Managing Director, said the company has set aside ₹30 crore for the marketing and awareness initiative around Goodness Zone. “We are expecting our retail business revenue to touch ₹1,000 crore in the next two years from ₹400 crore. Given the margin of 2 0 per cent and growing demand for quality products in smaller cities, a retailer can break even in less than four months," he said.

The company is currently targeting places where it sells over 4,000 litres of milk for setting up Goodness Zone.

Dominated by strong local brands, the ₹30,000-crore dairy beverage market is growing at 23 per cent and is poised to become three times with consumers switching over from aerated drinks to healthy alternatives, but the only challenge is to make available milk-based beverages at the right cost and quality, said Nidhi Nirmal, Chief Marketing Officer.

“Our products have shelf life of six months without refrigeration, but it has to be served chill. This is not an issue as electricity supply in small towns has improved with government initiatives," she said.

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