Natural Ice Creams is, on the back of its rebranding efforts, in expansion mode. Currently, with 125 stores across India, the brand is looking to enter its third metro – Kolkata – soon, having covered Mumbai and Delhi in addition to other tier-2 cities.
Natural’s FY18 revenue stood at Rs 129 crore and it is on track to cross Rs 150 crore in FY19, according to the company. Furthermore, there are plans to launch another 125 stores over the next five years.
The 2017 rebranding effort, which established the ‘Taste the Original’ tagline, was aimed at setting it apart from me-too brands popping up.
Srinivas Kamath, director, Kamath Ourtimes Ice Cream – owners of Natural Ice Creams – said: “Competition has always been there. It is not just the big players, but we also count single outlet brands, that are trying things like using liquid nitrogen for freezing or presentation of the product, as competition.”
The company typically spends 2% of its annual turnover on marketing. With strong word-of-mouth potential, aggregators have opened up newer avenues for growth, claims Kamath.
“Earlier, the share of takeaway or home delivery was 10-15%, which has grown to 30% now. Where we earlier used to cater within a one kilometre radius, this has now increased to three or four kilometres, opening up new locations and new customers to us.”
A Research and Markets report finds that the ice cream industry in India by 2021 is projected to be $3.4 billion. The industry is largely fragmented with regional players making up a considerable portion. To create demand for one particular brand could become difficult if an aggressive expansion plan cannot be executed with immediacy. Digital and social media has helped Natural Ice Creams achieve this to an extent as it brought the attention of GenX consumers towards the brand, informs Kamath.
For a player in an industry dependent on seasonality such as this, a ‘lean-period’ strategy has been a boon. “Seeing as we don’t spend much on advertising, aggregators help us reach customers even during lean periods,” Kamath said. “We are reaching customers in a variety of ways. This winter season, we have the City Center competition going on in our stores. Come February, we will host a Berry festival which is a marquee event that celebrates flavours of exotic berries from around the world.”
Natural Ice Creams currently gets its supply from its sole manufacturing facility in Mumbai. It delivers an output of 15 tonne a day and keeping expansion in mind, the company is looking at doubling this capacity.
