Vadilal Inds to double plant capacity

In an attempt to tap the growing market for ice-creams and processed foods, Vadilal Industries plans to double its manufacturing capacity at its Ahmedabad, Pundhra and Bareilly plants. The company expects to complete expansion by May this year.

Talking to Business Standard about the expansion plans, managing director, Rajesh Gandhi said, "We will be doubling our ice-cream plants' capacity at all the locations. We will also be setting up a new ice-cream plant in Kolkata by the end of the year."

According to Devanshu Gandhi, Co-MD, Vadilal Industries, the current capacity of the ice-cream plants is around 1.3 lakh litres per day which would be increased to 2.6 lakh litres per day. "The doubling of capacity would require an investment of Rs 20 crore. The initial capacity of the new plant at Kolkata would be around 50,000 litres per day," added Gandhi.

Gandhi also mentioned that the company will be investing around Rs 12-15 crore for doubling the processed food plant's capacity at Valsad. The company expects a turnover of Rs 50 crore from the Valsad plant by next year.

Currently the turnover from processed food business is around Rs 30-35 crore. From the ice-cream plants, Vadilal is expecting a rise in turnover from current Rs 140 crore to Rs 200 crore by next year.

With the booming retail market in the country and especially in Gujarat, Vadilal is planning to introduce specially designed carry home packs of ice-cream for retail customers.

"The format of retail is usually not suitable for products like ice-cream, therefore we are planning to introduce carry home packs of ice-cream specially designed for this format," said Gandhi. Vadilal has an overall market share of 25 per cent in the ice-cream segment in the country and 55 per cent in Gujarat.