Vadilal Industries Ltd, on Wednesday, announced that with an initial investment of around Rs 45 crore in frozen and ready-to-eat products, the company would double its processed food revenue to over Rs 100 crore in the next three years.
The company plans to achieve this target with the help of robust sales that it has been experiencing in the frozen and RTE foods categories in the domestic and export markets.
In tune with the plans, the company has reworked its branding strategy for few of its products. Rajesh Gandhi, MD, Vadilal Industries Ltd, explained, "We have come up with new logo and change in colour. The Vadilal Quick Treat’s new packaging stands for energy, dynamism, unanimity, uniformity and most importantly – convenience.”
He added, “The base colour, sunshine yellow, that flows through all the packs not only provides unanimity to the whole identity but also stands for energy and enthusiasm of new beginning. We are now focussing on the lighter side of something as tedious and time-consuming and at the same time, as special as cooking. The units at the front of the pack highlight the health benefits that the products offer i.e. no cholesterol, trans-fat-free, and no preservatives along with being pure vegetarian.”
As for the market, he said, “Due to the changing lifestyle of the young generation in India, especially in case of working couples, there has been a spurt in the demand for RTE frozen foods across all major cities. Vadilal is tapping this fast growing market with a wide variety of products and through optimal utilisation of modern retail. We expect our domestic sales for frozen foods to grow by around 30% annually over the next few years and our focus will be on higher margin value-added products.”
Devanshu Gandhi, MD, Vadilal Industries Ltd, stated, “With stronghold and distribution in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Uttaranchal we would be exploring to increase market presence. With strategic marketing plan and innovative packaging we would be expanding business by opening distribution network in processed food products in National Capital Region (NCR), Delhi, southern and northern states of India. For exports, we will focus on North America, the Middle-East, UK, South Africa and Australia.”
He pointed out, “We have been amongst the first few frozen food companies to have tied up with almost all the major organised retail format stores in India like HyperCity, Star Bazaar, Food Bazaar, D Mart, Nature’s Basket, Reliance Fresh, Reliance Mart, ABRL and Spencer’s. Understanding the future growth of cash and carry format stores, Vadilal products are also listed in Walmart’s Best Price, Reliance Market and Metro. In future, our ready-to-eat products will also be available at Mom & Pop stores.”
He added, "We have been experiencing major demand for bread in the domestic market whereas the fruit- and vegetable-based product in the international market. He reasoned it as the naans and kulchas been majorly consumed in India, especially, the northern states. The fruits and vegetables used for the product to manufacture are acquired by contract farming within 150 km available around the factory to avoid the spoilage.” The obstacles that they are facing are infrastructure, logistics and electricity, which are basically found at the retainer level, and those that halt the growth of the company, according to him.
