ITC to spice up existing product portfolio
ITC to make aggressive inroads into the market with a slew of new launches in the branded and packaged foods business.
By TNN |
KOLKATA: Tobacco-to-hotels & FMCG Company ITC is poised to make aggressive inroads into the market with a slew of new launches in the branded and packaged foods business. The company is also contemplating to set up a composite foods manufacturing facility in Bangalore shortly by investing Rs 700 crore.
"We are consciously capitalising a lot of our efforts to expand our existing product categories in all four segments," ITC Foods divisional chief executive Ravi Naware said in an informal chat with mediapersons on the occasion of Sunfeast Open 2007.
ITC has a presence in four segments — ready to eat foods, staples, confectionery and snack foods. He, however, refused to name the segment that would witness new offerings over the next six months. "Like Sunfeast Sachin Fit Kit’s multi-grain biscuits, we are also working on introducing higher variants in our existing range of products in response to consumer choice and preference in urban centres," he added.
On the company’s plans for a third manufacturing unit, Mr Naware said: "We plan to set up another manufacturing facility in Bangalore. However we are yet to decide whether it will be a foods unit only or a ‘composite facility’ manufacturing personal care products too."
ITC Foods already has a unit in Haridwar (Uttaranchal) and is slated to commission its second unit at Pune in January 2008.
If the company decides to set up an integrated food manufacturing facility, total outlay on the project will be in excess of Rs 700 crore upwards as a similar plant in Haridwar entailed such an investment, Mr Naware said. Setting up of a Bingo producing snacks food unit will require an investment of a couple of hundred crore only.
ITC’s decision to locate manufacturing facility in each region is largely prompted by packaging needs. This is also the reason why the company could be looking at a fourth unit in West Bengal.
"We are consciously capitalising a lot of our efforts to expand our existing product categories in all four segments," ITC Foods divisional chief executive Ravi Naware said in an informal chat with mediapersons on the occasion of Sunfeast Open 2007.
ITC has a presence in four segments — ready to eat foods, staples, confectionery and snack foods. He, however, refused to name the segment that would witness new offerings over the next six months. "Like Sunfeast Sachin Fit Kit’s multi-grain biscuits, we are also working on introducing higher variants in our existing range of products in response to consumer choice and preference in urban centres," he added.
On the company’s plans for a third manufacturing unit, Mr Naware said: "We plan to set up another manufacturing facility in Bangalore. However we are yet to decide whether it will be a foods unit only or a ‘composite facility’ manufacturing personal care products too."
ITC Foods already has a unit in Haridwar (Uttaranchal) and is slated to commission its second unit at Pune in January 2008.
If the company decides to set up an integrated food manufacturing facility, total outlay on the project will be in excess of Rs 700 crore upwards as a similar plant in Haridwar entailed such an investment, Mr Naware said. Setting up of a Bingo producing snacks food unit will require an investment of a couple of hundred crore only.
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ITC’s decision to locate manufacturing facility in each region is largely prompted by packaging needs. This is also the reason why the company could be looking at a fourth unit in West Bengal.
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