Amul vs HLL: A premium lick

Amul takes on HLL once again in the premium ice-cream market

No wonder then, with such casualities Amul is going all out to grab the market. Although Amul is known for its lacklustre supplies, it is is seeking more visibility.

"Now that Amul has achieved critical mass and emerged as a market leader, we are now embarking on increasing consumption," says R S Sodhi, general manager GCMMF.

He knows there is enough scope for that even though Indians aren't eating that much ice-cream. "Price has been the main hindrance," says a multinational player.

The per capita consumption of ice-creams in India is a paltry 250 ml per annum while the average global consumption is 2 litres. Even countries like Sri Lanka and Pakistan consume much more than India.

That's why, like Kwality Wall's, Amul too wants to take its frozen and ambient platter on the road through push carts and smaller outlets. It plans to supply freezers to bakeries and chemists to mom-and-pop shops and even STD booths.

At the same time, GCMMF is investing around Rs 120 crore over the next two years to expand capacity from 1.1 million litres a day to 1.8 million a day.

To build a national presence, GCMMF has bought an ice-cream manufacturing unit in Nagpur. By installing a dairy unit on the premises, it plans to extend its milk supply to states like Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

Then, with the NDDB entering into joint ventures with state co-operatives to market their milk and milk products, GCMMF too is doing the same.

There are also new offerings. In the last one year, it introduced the largest volume cone in the country. There's Santra mantra, an orange ice-cream coupled with other low fat and vitamin-packed offerings for children. All this is likely to push up volumes to 34 million litres with value sales almost doubling.

Even HLL has been trying hard to create excitement around its brands. Its Kwality Wall's Max, for children, was relaunched with offerings, like Rainbow and Twister, supported by a new look Max lion. 

The last festive season, it introduced Vanilla Surprise to distinguish from the low-priced commodity vanilla products, and a range of new sundaes.

All these offering are no doubt welcome in the sweltering heat. But as a marketing consultant put it: "With everyone on a health binge, it would be challenging for players to increase consumption."