Parag Milk Foods to launch milkshakes

Pune-based Parag Milk Foods, the maker of Gowardhan brand of milk, curd, ghee and cheese, will soon make a foray into milkshakes, a top official said.

"We will launch milkshakes in the next three to four months. The research and development is still going on," Parag Milk Foods chairman Devendra Shah said.

The company is expecting a growth of over 35 per cent this fiscal on the back of aggressive expansion plans.

"We had a revenue of Rs 875 crore in FY12. We are expecting around Rs 1,200 crore this fiscal," he said.

"We are also increasing our distribution network and we should be present in 100 towns soon. We plan to expand more into the Eastern and Northern markets. We have plans to open 150 exclusive stores in big cities by next January. The new stores will be on a franchise model," Shah said.

The company has invested close to Rs 110 crore for a plant in Andhra Pradesh, which has ultra heat treatment technology.

"Our new plant in Andhra with the UHT technology has been commissioned and has a capacity of 7-8 lakh litres per day. It is basically for tetra pak products. This year, we have invested Rs 40 crore for this. Besides, we have invested Rs 70 crore in the plant for infrastructure," he said.

“This is the first time that the company will be launching tetrapak products,” Shah added.

The firm, which also has a plant at Manchar near Pune, has a total capacity of 20 lakh litres a day.

The company aims to capture a volume share of 10 per cent in the 11 lakh-litre a day market within the next three months.

The market is estimated to be Rs 500-800 crore in terms of value.

The dairy company also plans to launch flavoured milk using the UHT technology. Parag Milk's product portfolio includes skimmed milk powder, whole milk powder, ghee, processed cheese, butter, curd, proprietary foods like dairy whitener and gulab jamun mix powder under the brand names Rs Gowardhan' and Rs Go'.