Australian Foods to double turnover

Australian Foods India Pvt Ltd is looking to double turnover by the end of fiscal 2007-08 for its 'Cookie Man' stores. Even the number of stores, which exclusively sell fresh baked Australian cookies, are expected to go up.

Presently, the company has a turnover of Rs 15 crore, and according to S B P Pattabhi Rama Rao, president of the company, the turnover could well be Rs 30 crore. Rao is hopeful of the stores' success in Indian market.

"Unlike what happened to Kellogg's in the early nineties when they tried to change the Indian eating habits, we are offering cookies as not a substitute to their snacks to complement their diet. Therefore, we are sure that we will be successful with our exclusive cookie stores 'Cookie Man'," said Rao.

The dough for the cookies is manufactured at their Chennai plant and the chocolates, and specialty nuts are imported, while the rest of the ingredients are procured locally. The cookies are freshly baked in imported machines worth Rs 30 lakh at each store.

Australian Foods has till now launched 20 stores in 10 cities across the country with the latest being in Ahmedabad. It has Cookie Man stores in cities like Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Indore, Pune, Gurgaon and Noida.

It began its operations in 2000 through a joint venture between Rao and London-based Paracor, a private equity group and parent company of Cookie Man of Australia.

Apart from setting up its stores in malls, the company also supplies its cookies to airlines like Kingfisher Airlines and Jet Airways.

For Gujarat, the company plans to open three more stores by this year and around 6-10 stores in the next 3-4 years in cities like Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat and Anand.

According to Rao, the company is hopeful that through its latest store, the state will account for 10-12 per cent of its revenue by the end of the fiscal.