-Vishal SS (cbedit@imaws.org)
Naturals Ice Cream, a brand synonymous with high-quality ice creams and growing at a steady pace is set for a Pan-India expansion. The leading artisanal ice-cream brand, popularly known for its signature flavours like Tender Coconut and Sitaphal, has consistently delighted consumers with its unique flavours, having made ice-creams using three key ingredients: fruits or dry fruits, milk, and sugar.
The 35-year-old brand, which switched from the name ‘Natural’ to ‘Naturals’ in 2017 has 136 stores today. With an exceptional footfall in tier 1 cities like Mumbai and Delhi, the company is all set to stitch up an expansion strategy aimed at contributing towards development in areas having a strong ice cream consumption. The brand plans to have about 150 stores by the end of this financial year by entering prospective markets like Vadodara, Chandigarh, Jabalpur. New stores in Delhi, Hyderabad and Kerala are also very much on the cards. As part of its growth strategy, the brand intends to have about 250 stores, mainly in the south and west of India in the forthcoming three years. This will enable the brand to scoop up an estimated annual turnover of INR 165 Crores. Naturals’ approach of regularly churning out innovative products in the form of new flavours is enabling the brand to deliver an unmatched experience to the consumer.
Although, the brand underwent a subdued growth in a few months of 2020, it managed to recover quickly during the Dec20-Feb21 period. Comprehending customers are preferring packed products with better hygiene and tamper proof seals, the brand launched easy-to-store mini packs during the lockdown, which contributed to about 10% of their sales. Further propelling their growth is their “TOUGH TUB” campaign, assuring consumers that their family packs are safe and cannot be tampered with. Partnering with Rebel Foods, which operates a large network of cloud kitchens, enabled the brand to get better market penetration by targeting places, where there are few Naturals outlets. Their direct-to-order platform that caters to customers who preferred having an end-to-end experience with Naturals enabled their sales to reach close to pre-covid levels. Partnering with aggregator platforms has further propelled Naturals to grow aggressively.
The brand presently receives its supply from its exclusive manufacturing facility in Mumbai. It delivers an output of 20 tonnes a day and keeping in mind the expansion mode, the company is looking at doubling this capacity. Siddhant Kamath,Director, Naturals Ice Cream, says, “For a player operating in an industry reliant on seasonality, expansion plans such as these will prove to be a boon. We are happy to announce our rapid expansion mode that is targeted to take the company to the next level. To leverage our exclusive retail growth, the brand plans to open 15 new stores in the current financial year along with the recently launched store in Surat which marks our 136th store in the market. We will continue to introduce a diverse and unique range of pure ice creams for our consumers and are making efforts at reaching them in a variety of ways. We are optimistic that, through our aggressive expansion plans, Naturals Ice Cream will steadily delight diverse taste buds across the nation.”
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