Local ice cream brands step up national play

Buoyed by an expanding market in the country, Arun, Cream Bell, Vadilal, Heritage leverage local strengths to craft a national identity

The Rs 9,000-crore ice cream market (including unorganised players) is in for an overhaul. As regional labels such as Arun, Cream Bell, Vadilal Dairy International and Heritage take on the might of Kwality Walls, Amul and such others, the industry expects to grow at close to 10 per cent for the next few years and the brand map for the sector to change forever.

Regional brands are under pressure from growing competition from smaller, emerging homegrown players in their own territories. And at the same time, there is a growing preference for homegrown labels in food and dairy. The 2017 annual