Hind Lever to revamp food business

Consumer goods major Hindustan Lever is planning to revamp its foods business. It is looking at broadening its product basket by introducing products in the children nutrition segment under the Annapurna and Kissan brands.

Arun Adhikari, managing director of home and personal care (HPC) division of HLL said the company plans to introduce products in the children nuitritution segment.

"There are products""Annapurna and Kissan"" but these are peripheral products," he said adding that the company will introduce products in the segment. However, he did not indicate any time frame of new products to be launched.

Foods business is the largest contributor to Unilever's sales. Though the Indian arm has been betting big on the foods business, it is yet to become a large scale business here. Foods business declined to Rs 389.86 crore in the first quarter of 2005.

While beverages and ice cream recorded flat growth, sales from processed declined due to the streamlining of the supply chain of Kissan Ketchup, Knorr Soups and Kissan Jams. Squash sales also declined during the quarter because of the reduction in promotional activities.

The company has been investing towards research and development in the foods business. It has launched products like Annapurna 4'0 clock tiffin, knorr Annapurna Soupy Snax, Max confectionery among others. However, its innovations failed to click with consumer's taste buds.