Ice-cream brand Baskin Robbins looks at 20% growth in India in FY24

Premium ice-cream brand Baskin Robbins is looking at a 20 per cent growth in India in the 2023-24 financial year, a company official said.

Mohit Khattar, the CEO of Graviss Foods, which is the master franchise for Baskin Robbins in South Asia, said the company was not perturbed by Reliance's foray into the segment as competition is good for the industry.

Following are the excerpts from an interview he gave to PTI:

Q. What is your growth strategy in India?

-- The growth strategy for Baskin Robbins in India centres around innovation in every aspect -- the products we have, the way we serve our customers, the way we advertise. So it's all about reaching out to different audiences.

Q. How do you plan to expand in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities?

-- We are present across 239 cities in India. So, we are already in Tier 2 cities. It is not that difficult for us. It is about getting our products right, which is what we're more focused on -- whether it's different flavours or beverages. One of the related things we are doing apart from innovating is going out into new cities where we don't have a presence currently, and finding the right location and opening stores.

Q. Why did Baskin Robbins shut operations in Bangladesh?

-- The change in the duty structure was impacting the business there. But obviously, it's an attractive market and we would want to re-enter Bangladesh as soon as we can get the cost of our products right.

Q. How are you looking at Reliance's announcement to foray into this segment?

-- I believe that more players help the market grow. Competition is usually good for customers, and also good for the industry. Also, I expect Reliance to come in at the mass market level. We might be left unimpacted because we operate in a completely different segment.

Q. Do you look at hiking prices because of the rise in input costs?

-- There has been a rise in the prices of dairy ingredients over the last one year. Prices have shot up by around 15 per cent, but for us, the aggregate impact would be around 4-5 per cent. We have decided that we will not hike prices in the interest of the consumers this year. We want the summer to be over before we reassess whether there needs to be a price increase or not.