“As the
market leader, we estimate that Frooti currently 
commands
approximately 80 per cent of the marketshare in the Eastern region,”
Jalan said. Their franchise area covers West Bengal, Sikkim, Bhutan
and Bihar. They also despatch 250 ml packs to other parts of India occasionally.
The Frooti plant has an installed capacity of 220.50 lakh litres per
annum. This works out to 13 lakh packs per annum, or 73,500 litres per
day, assuming 300 working days in a year.
Frooti
has experienced stagnation over the last three years in terms of volume.
However, Jalan is hopeful that the volumes will increase with the new
ad campaign and the extension of the brand positioning. “Our new ad
campaign has allowed us to break the age barrier, generating appeal
amongst adult consumers, too,” he said.
Dhara
Dhara
Vegetable Oil and Fruit Company Limited (DVOFCL), which is a division
of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), was invited by the government
of India to act as the market-intervention body on oil and oilseeds
in India. NDDB wanted to innovate by packing edible oil in Tetra Paks.
It chose Keventer for producing the Dhara range of edible oil in Tetra
Paks because of its experience and expertise. The plant, with an initial
capacity of 72,000 litres per day, was set up in three months in December
1990 with an initial investment of Rs 75 lakh. The installed capacity
of the plant is now almost 31,200 tonnes per annum. The current volume
of oil being packed here is around 1,000 tonnes per month.
Dhara was
the first brand of oil to be packaged in Tetra Pak. It is also packed
in poly-pouches at another plant in Barasat. This novel method of packaging
oil is hygienic, maintains high quality, is pilfer-proof, and generated
instant consumer appeal and an overwhelming market response.
Keventer’s
responsibility is restricted to the blending and packaging of the product.
“We don’t procure any major raw material and are not responsible for
distribution and marketing. Keventer collects revenue only under the
head of processing charges,” Jalan said.
Packaged
drinking water
Keventer
also ventured into the mineral water industry to ensure optimum utilisation
of its existing manpower and distribution systems, especially since
manufacturing of Frooti is a seasonal business. “Our Bailey’s plant
is just two months old. However, our confidence in the project is based
on the fact that over the past few years it has commanded a 20 per cent
share of the Indian market,” Jalan said.
The demand
for pure and safe packaged water is rising with the increased and widespread
occurrence of water-borne diseases and rampant water pollution. The
market for mineral water has been growing at 70 per cent per annum over
the past few years. With a large number of players still entering this
sector, Jalan expects growth to stabilise at 30 to 35 per cent for the
next few years.
