Maha-based dairy major has big plans for TN

Having launched this product in Chennai on Thursday, a top official said the company has major plans for the Tamil Nadu market.

Mahesh Israni, Chief Marketing Officer, said the Indian fruit drink market is worth over Rs 10,000 cr and the mango-based drink market is the largest in the segment. “TN is a very large market for beverages. Our retail footprint in Chennai will be set up through supermarkets and cool bars. Around 4,000 retail outlets will sell our products in the city in the first phase. Chennai is the main market for this product. Apart from that, in Tamil Nadu, we are targeting between 7,000-10,000 outlets spread across 25 to 36 towns. By the end of the financial year, the company is eyeing 17,000 outlets in the state.” 

“We will take the product nationally after seeing public response to the product in Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi and Kanpur,” company Chairman Devendra Shah said. Parag Milk manufactures a range of dairy products and had earlier entered the beverages segment with its flavoured milk. Shah said the company has identified the beverages segment as the growth driver. 

The company’s flavoured cheese brands are also among its hot-selling products and the overall category is seeing a growth of about 20 per cent year-on-year. Israni explained, “Keeping the demand in mind, we expanded our plant capacity for these products. From a 40 tonne (per day) plant, we have become a 60-tonne plant and hope to touch an 80-tonne capacity in six to nine months.”