Godrej Plans Second Fruit Drinks Line In Mysore

Godrej Foods will set up a second plant in Mysore to expand its base in fruit pulps and drinks. The plant, which is being set up at a cost of Rs 12.5 crore, will double the companys capacity for manufacturing its `Jumpin' range of fruit drinks. Godrej Foods is also likely to introduce new brands from the Mysore plant, thus taking head on tetrapak drinks leader Parle Agro.

The plant is also expected to ease the problem of procuring raw materials for Godrej Foods fruit drinks.

It will have an installed capacity of manufacturing 27,00,000 lade trays of fruit pulps and drinks. Godrej Foods' existing unit is located in Bhopal. The proposed new plant will come at the Hebbal Industrial Area, near Mysore. The company has already made a request for 20 acres of land to the state government for the purpose. While Godrej Foods expects trial production to commence on December 1, commercial production is likely to begin in the middle of the month.

Out of the total outlay of Rs 12.5 crore, Godrej will chip in with Rs six crore for the project. The rest of the funds will be absorbed by term loan.

After its first attempt to launch Jumpin drinks failed to enthuse the market, Godrej Foods relaunched its brands under a new marketing strategy last year to compete with Parle Agro.

Parle holds over 75 per cent of the share out of an estimated 12 million cases of tetrapak market in the country

While Parle has other brands like Appy (apple) and Pingo (pineapple) under its sleeve, 90 per cent of its sales still comes from Frooti.

Besides Parle, Godrej will also face competition from `Gala' in the south, another tetrapak fruit drink launched by Karnataka Agro Industries Corporation, a state government company.

While the firm is investing rupees three crore for land and building, rupees eight crore is being invested for plant and machinery. The rest of the investment will be made for other expenditures. The plant will have around 60 employees. The proposed unit is expected to achieve full capacity only in its fifth year, beginning with an estimated first year production of 9 lakh trays of fruit drinks. While Godrej Foods expects trial run to commence on December 1, actual production is likely to begin in the middle of the month