Creambell to focus on expanding base in Gujarat: CEO

Firm eyes Ahmedabad in first phase of spreading out, says Gujarat is seen as largest segment of Rs 3,500 cr domestic ice-cream market

Creambell, one of the fastest growing ice-cream brands, has decided to focus on Gujarat and build up its presence in the state, a top official has said.

"In the first phase, our focus is on Ahmedabad where we have already made an entry last month. It is the key icecream market of Gujarat and our products have been receiving good response ever since we entered in Ahmedabad," Creambell CEO Nitin Arora told PTI today over phone." In the second phase, we hope to expand our presence in Vadodara, Rajkot and Surat and then rest of Gujarat, he said.

Creambell was established by RJ Corporation in 2003.

It is among the top five ice cream producers of the country with a 15 per cent market share.

It has a strong presence in northern, central and southern regions of the country and has now made its entry into Gujarat market, said Arora.

The ice-cream market in India is estimated at Rs 3,500 crore and Gujarat is expected to be the largest market and that is why we would be focusing on the state for next five years for consolidating our base, he said.

Creambell currently has a presence in over 70 per cent of the overall icecream retail segment and over 10,000 push carts across India.

It plans to set up one more plant for meeting the increasing demand of its products in the country, Arora said adding the location of new unit is yet to be finalised.

"We are aiming for an increased overall market share of 18 per cent and for this the company has earmarked investments of Rs 275 crores over next three years in capacity expansion, research and development and market activations," the CEO said and did not rule out the possibility of entering capital market to raise fund through IPO.

The unseasonal rain which recently lashed several parts of the country has affected the icecream market to some extent and at the same time, it has given us an opportunity to build up buffer stock of ice creams. We hope that the demand for ice creams will go up after a week as the mercury has started soaring, Arora added.