Frick India plans to manage cold rooms

Frick India Ltd, manufacturer of industrial refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment, is planning to foray into back-end retail supply chain management through its subsidiary Kold Hold Private ltd.

"Given the fact that, the back-end retail industry in India expected to be worth Rs 200 crore in the next five years, we would enter into areas like small cold room management, packaging and grading," said P Sudhir Kumar, general manager (marketing) western and southern region, Frick India Ltd.

The company has set a target of achieving a turnover of Rs 100 crore within the next two years. Last fiscal its turnover was close to Rs 75 crore.

This apart, the company is also planning to introduce new products in its cold storage category, like mobile cold storage vans.

"Mobile cold chain is a relatively new concept in India. It could be either sold directly to co-operatives or could be rented out to farmers who cannot afford cold storages," Kumar said. About 70 per cent of the company's business is from cold storages.

Over the last two-three years, it has been growing at an average 40 per cent, with a market share of almost 50 per cent in the cold chain category.

West Bengal, Bihar and the north-eastern states provided opportunities of growth for the company, Kumar said. The company recently entered into a technical collaboration with Vilter Manufacturing Company, US, for manufacturing high-speed reciprocating compressors at its Faridabad facility near Delhi.