ITC enters dairy whitener market with its Sunfresh brand
10 Jun 2016
ITC has entered the dairy whitener market with the launch of its Sun Fresh brand. The new product will target a growing market, valued at over Rs1,370 crore, currently dominated by market leaders Nestle and Amul, which together command an 85 per cent market share.
ITC, hit hard by rising taxes on its traditional cigarette business, is looking to build on its consumer products business, more particularly its food business.
Announcing the fourth quarter and annual results of the company last month, chairman Y C Dewashar said that the company was looking to cross the Rs10,000-crore mark in its food business and with the launch of new products to various categories.
ITC plans to launch the new dairy whitener brand in markets which generate significant revenue in this specific category – West Bengal, Kerala and North-East – regions that account for nearly 60 per cent of the country's market for dairy whiteners.
Speaking about the launch of the second dairy product in its ever-growing portfolio, Sanjiv Puri, ITC executive director, said, ''Our intention is to craft differentiated and value-added products in the dairy segment which would be hallmark of quality.''
With the launch of Sunfresh, the company aims to target several categories in the dairy segment to compete with Nestle and Amul.
Currently, Nestle's Everyday with 48 per cent and Amul's Amulya with 38 per cent in the dairy whiteners market dominates the market.
''Our focus is on crafting value-added products in the dairy segment, which would be superior and differentiated. We would soon enter few more categories in the dairy business,'' ITC aims to target this specific market which has a growth rate of nearly 6 per cent per year, B Sumant, president-FMCG business, ITC, said.
This is the second product from the dairy product segment of ITC, which first entered the dairy market with the launch of its brand Aashirvaad ghee.
ITC's Sunfresh will be manufactured in its own facility in Munger, Bihar and will be launched in packaging formats that include sachets which will be available in Rs5 and Rs10 packs and as well as 200-gm and 400-gm packs.
