Mother Dairy to revive Dhara, expand ice-creams basket

NEW DELHI:Mother Dairy is churning new plans with an aim to become a Rs 3,000-crore company this year. Part of the strategy is giving a new lease of life to its edible oil brand Dhara, expanding its beverages and ice-cream portfolio and catering better to organised retail. The subsidiary of the National Dairy Development Board clocked a turnover of Rs 2,200 crore last year.

“There has not been much focus on Dhara for the last three-four years as we focussed on oil seeds grown in India. We hope to correct that now with focus both on indigenous oil seeds and imported ones like soybean. Dhara would also get a new marketing push along with a new packaging and distribution focus,” Mother Dairy CEO Paul Thachil said.

In a bid to expand its beverages portfolio, the company would soon launch nimbu paani and more juice drinks under brand Safal. The beverages business for Mother Dairy currently stands at Rs 10-12 crore and with this expansion, is expected to grow to Rs 18-20 crore.

“We currently have 100% juices and few juice drinks. Since there are better volumes in drinks due to their lower prices, we want to strengthen our presence in the category,” Mr Thachil added.

While its ice-cream brand Chillz would get its first TV commercial with a new tagline of ‘goodness inside,’ Mother Dairy would also launch premium offerings in the takeaway ice-cream category.

With the growth of organised retail, Mother Dairy has also felt the need to focus on how best to cater to it. “One needs a separate set of people and distributors to service the modern trade. We are training our workforce on servicing modern trade,” said Mr Thachil.

While existing markets would be the focus area for fresh milk, the highest revenue grosser for the company with a contribution of 60-65%, new markets are being explored for other products like curd, yoghurt and buttermilk.