ITC looks to enhance portfolio, to enter paneer, milkshakes biz in 2 months

Diversified conglomerate ITC Limited has decided to enhance its dairy portfolio by entering the paneer and milkshakes segments within two months, a company official said Tuesday.

ITC had earlier forayed into the dairy segment with the launch of milk and ghee in select markets.

The company on Tuesday launched milk and curd for the Kolkata market.

"We are going to launch paneer for the Kolkata market and milkshakes pan India within two months," Hemant Malik, divisional chief executive (foods) of ITC said.

He said while milk, ghee, paneer and curd would be sold under the 'Aashirvaad' brand, there will be a different brand for milkshakes.

ITC initiated the foods division in 2002 and started the dairy business at Munger in Bihar.

"We have been selling milk in markets of Munger, Patna and Bhagalpur in Bihar. Now, we have come to Kolkata", he said.

The company had been selling ghee in Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Delhi, he added.

Malik said initially milk would be procured from Bihar and subsequently from a local manufacturer in West Bengal for which a tie-up is already in place.

"We want to source it (milk) locally. But the challenge is quality," he said.

Talking about the revenue generated from ITC's foods business, he said it was below Rs 90 billion although consumer spending was in excess of Rs 120 billion. The difference was due to seller discounts offered by the company.

Malik said ITC was expecting a revenue spend of Rs 4 billion to Rs 5 billion from the dairy business over the next two years.

The company's focus will remain on the markets where it will be entering over the next one year he added.