Dabon Withdraws Shrikhand, Milk

Dabon International, a 50:50 joint-venture between Dabur India and the $4 billion French dairy major Bongrain International, has withdrawn bottled flavoured milk and srikhand from the market.

It has, however, drawn up plans to introduce new products such as milk jam and desserts next year.

The company has also shelved its plan to introduce non-cheese-based products, which were being test marketed in Delhi and the western parts of the country, company sources said. Dabon chief executive P K Gupta said that apart from cheese, Dabon will soon launch milk jam (bread spread) targeted mainly at children. The company is also launching a study of the market for desserts such as puddings, which a Bongrain group company makes in France.

 

Gupta said Dabon has no plan to launch milk in liquid form such as Amul, Nestle and Britannia.

The company, which markets its products under the Le Bon brand name, now plans to concentrate on a variety of cheese. Since its inception in 1998, the company has brought many international flavours of cheese into the country. Flavours include black pepper, herbs, garlic and curry capsicum. Some of these products were imported from Australia. Now they are produced at the company's unit in Noida.

The flavoured milk was being imported from Bongrain's factory based in the Tianjin province of China.

The government had objected to the company importing and selling Le Bon flavoured milk from China and test marketing it in the domestic market as it resulted in domestic trading which is not permitted. However, it gave Dabon permission to test market the product, and sell cheese after the company informed that it had set up a manufacturing unit in the country and the milk was only being test-marketed.

Sources said the two partners in the JV have already invested around Rs 30 crore in the Indian operations and the management control is with the Bongrain. Bongrain is one of the leading companies in the manufacturing and marketing of specialised dairy and cheese products since 1956. It ranks among the top 20 dairy product companies in the world.