Dabur Foods eyes institutions

Dabur Foods, a 100 per cent subsidiary of Dabur India Ltd, has launched Nature's Best, a brand that will cater exclusively to the institutional sector.

The first product launched under this brand is tomato ketchup. The company is set to introduce cornflour next month. Other products to be launched for institutional consumers such as hotels, airlines and corporates will include soups, sauces and cooking pastes.

"We see the institutional segment as a major contributor to our growth," says Amit Burman, CEO, Dabur Foods. According to him the institutional market for food is pegged at Rs 27,000 crore annually. "More than a brand institutions look for quality and service; we're confident of providing both to our clients. Our food services division is already contributing nearly 25 per cent to the turnover of the company. With the launch of more specially formulated products like tomato ketchup we aim to attain 20 per cent of the market share in this category," he adds.

Besides advertisements in trade magazines, Dabur Foods is looking at using its existing marketing team to push sales. The company's clients include the Taj group of hotels, Oberois, ITC Hotels, Jet Airways, Alliance Air, GE, Wipro and Oracle among others.

A couple of months back Dabur Foods commissioned its first multi-fruit processing plant in Siliguri, West Bengal. The 11-acre facility will produce 2,300 tonne of fruit pulp and concentrate in its first year of operation.

"The Siliguri plant is the cornerstone of our growth strategy and this backward integration will result in higher profitability," says Burman.

In the retail segment, Dabur Foods' portfolio includes Real fruit juice, Hommade culinary pastes, fruit-based beverage Coolers, sauces and lemon juice. The company clocked a turnover of Rs 86 crore with an operating profit of Rs 1.5 crore in 2003-04.