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Purvita Chatterjee

MUMBAI, Feb. 17

THE Rs 2,500-crore Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd (GCMMF), or Amul, is getting ready to challenge Cadbury in the moulded chocolate market. The co-operative, which has been lying low for a while with its generic chocolate variants such as Fruit & Nut and Milk, now intends segmenting its chocolates, catering to different age-groups and categories that are likely to consume its brand.

Speaking to Business Line, Mr Sanjay K. Panigrahi, General Manager, GCMMF, said, "We intend taking advantage of our already existing cold chain to get more active in the growing market of moulded chocolates and confectionery." Said Mr V. J. Matthai, Assistant General Manager, GCMMF, "Previously, we have been after HLL for ice creams and now we will take on Cadbury with our chocolates."

According to industry analysts, Amul has already lost the race for ice creams against Levers and now wants to resurrect its chocolate offerings in a bid to latch on to the segment, which in the recent past has seen a flurry of activity both from Nestle and Cadbury. Having launched an occasion-related sub-brand of Nuts 'bout U on the eve of Valentine's Day and Kite Bite for the kite flying festival in Ahmedabad recently, Amul has decided to segment the market with brands catering to the `impulse' and `teen' segments, as well as having brands catering to different occasions. Recently, Amul Rejoice was launched as a gift brand.

An ingredient chocolate brand is also on the cards while its eclairs offering, Milklairs, which was launched last year, has been a learning experience for the co-operative, which is looking at getting into sugar-boiled confectionary as well.

Elaborating on Amul's foray into the sugar market, Mr Panigrahi said, "Today, we are also looking at branded sugar and talks are on with sugar federations for collaborations. We might enter into a marketing tie-up with them to leverage their products in the market under our brand." In fact, its future foray into sugar confectionery would be an offshoot of this venture. The chances are that its boiled confectionary is likely to be outsourced and manufactured through third-party manufacturers.

With players such as ITC and Parle getting more active in this segment, Amul officials feel it already has its cold chain and distribution network in place to get more products to ride this chain. Presently, Amul reaches out to 5 lakh retail outlets and has 2,600 distributors under its fold.

Besides, Amul has also taken the initiative to set up 100 of its own brand retail parlours under `Utterly Delicious', this year, an initiative which will give it a retail edge, compared to its competitors such as HLL and Cadbury.

Mr Panigrahi estimates Rs 100 crore in turnover in the next three years through the `Utterly Delicious' parlours. As an extension of this retail initiative, Amul is also test-launching a restaurant chain under the Utterly Delicious brand at Vashi in Navi Mumbai. Entering the restaurant business through its master franchisee partner, Kaira Can, Amul intends opening more of such eateries in Mumbai soon, which will dish out ready-to-eat stuff like parathas, lassi, buttermilk, sandwiches and pizzas, using ingredients from Amul and also vending the products already available under the Amul franchise like soups, kadhis and other ethnic Indian snacks.

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Amul to segment chocolate market, take on Cadbury

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