AMUL ICE CREAM

PRODUCT PORTFOLIO
Case
Group Number 2
Bhavesh Birla

1511016

Rinusha Rajan

1511114

Sukriti Srivastava

1511214

Vivek Bajpai

1511293

Divy Sharma

1511392

1.

Abstract

Pawan Sodhi, General Manager, Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) was
lately facing questions with regards to the Amul strategy in the light of increasing competition from
national and international brands.
Indian brands like Mother Dairy, HUL Kwality Walls and international brands like Haagen Dazs,
Nestle Movenpick had launched premium offerings in the Indian ice cream market. The market
was flooded with exotic flavors and variants from both alike. With mult iple domestic players like
Dinshaw and Top n Town going national and the consumer behavior shifting to out -of-home
impulse purchase, competition in the booming ice-cream industry was only getting tougher. A
market with increasing disposable income and demographic dividend, open to experiments, was
not only a challenge but also an opportunity at the same time.
As Sodhi prepared for the impending Annual Strategy Offsite Meeting, he had to draw the new
battle lines of strategy for the year ahead.

2.

Indian Ice Cream Industry

Traditionally seen as seasonal in nature, the ice cream industry in India witnessed healthy
growth of 17% during FY 2015. The size of the industry was around INR 85 billion in 2015 i,
driven by volume growth of 30% in March as compared to that in the previous year. In India, the
annual per capita consumption is around 400 ml as compared to 2300 ml in US market ii, which
shows the huge untapped opportunity which lies within this industry. As a result of which, many
international and regional players are looking for new and innovative ways to utilize this
opportunity.

Major players in the industry are national players like GCMMF (Gujarat Co-operative Milk
Marketing Federation which owns the Amul brand), Unilever Group owned Kwality Walls,
National Dairy Development Board Subsidiary Mother Dairy, Ahmedabad based Vadilal
Industries and regional players like Havmor, Top n Town. The untapped market opportunity in
India has also attracted international players like Baskin Robbins, London Dairy and Nestle
Movenpick. The respective market share of the top 5 players are as follows

Company

Market Share (%)

Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation

17.7

Kwality Walls

9.8

Mother Dairy

7.9

Vadilal Industries

5.5

RJ Corp

4.0
Table 1: Market Share of top 5 players iii

In past, the demand for ice cream in India was impulse based i.e. it was not normal for Indians to have
ice cream as daily routine. However, today it has been promoted and advertised as a habitual intake
for the consumers. As a result of this, the trend of consumption of ice cream is moving towards home
purchase. At the same time, to cater to the increasing health consciousness of the Indian consumers,
these companies are positioning their product as healthy products with healthy ingredients.
The demand for ice cream is mainly driven by the metropolitan cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata,
Hyderabad and Bengaluru due to larger disposable income and more awareness regarding the
different offerings of ice creams. This is evident from the 70% of ice cream sales volume from these
cities. This market is expected to reach a value of ~ $ 1400 million, with the volume of ice cream sold
predicted to reach 844.6 million litersiv.

Amul - Company Profile

3.

GCMMF, the apex organization of AMUL, is India's largest food product marketing organization with
annual turnover (2015-16) US$ 3.5 billion. Its daily milk procurement is approximately 16.97 million
liters from 18,545 village milk cooperative societies, 18 member unions covering 33 districts, and 3.6
million milk producer members. It operates through 56 Sales Offices and has a dealer network of
10000 dealers and 10 lakh retailersv. Its product range comprises milk, milk powder, health beverages,
ghee, butter, cheese, Pizza cheese, Ice-cream, Paneer, chocolates, and traditional Indian sweets,
etc.

Business Model
The company works on a cooperative model, ensuring good value for money for farmers. The model
is a 3 tier structure with the dairy cooperative societies at the village level federated under a milk union
at the district level and a federation of member unions at the state level. The Amul model has helped
India to emerge as the largest milk producer in the world. More than 15 million milk producers pour
their milk in 144500 dairy cooperative societies across the countryvi. Their milk is processed in 184
District Co-operative Unions and marketed by 22 State Marketing Federations.

Milk
Producer

Village Dairy
Cooperative

District Milk
Coop union

State Co-op
Milk
Marketing
Federation

Figure 1: Amul Cooperative Model

End
Consumer

4.

Amul Ice Cream

Started in April 1996 in Gujarat, Amul Ice Creams went national in 1999. Since then, Amul has grown
at a phenomenal rate by introducing more varieties of products and constantly innovating in the
existing products. Currently, it offers a selection of 220 products. Some of the famous offerings of
Amul are Amul Epic, Amul Creme Rich and Amul Flaavyo Frozen Yoghurt. The ice cream comes in
different packages cups, tricones, tubs, family packs. With growing health consciousness among
the consumers, Amul positions itself as a healthy product, with its tagline Real Milk Real Ice Cream.
In 2015, Amul had ~18% market share in the ice cream industryvii. The main raw material for ice cream
i.e. milk is sourced through the same cooperatives which process the milk procured from farmers. As
a result of this backward integration, Amul has control over the quality of raw material and hence on
the quality of ice cream as well.

AMUL Ice Cream Product Portfolio

Over the time Amul diversified its product offerings in ice cream market according to market demand
and competitors products. Started with generic Amul real milk ice cream to Premium Epic. Following
is a brief mention of Amul Ice Creams product portfolio:

Generic
AMULs marketing team did a lot of study of existing competitors and their products and came up
with AMUL Real Milk Ice Cream. Amul was positioning its product as real ice cream made out of
pure milk available at lower prices. The reason behind this was the competitors like HUL, Vadilal
etc. were selling Frozen Desserts as their offerings which contained vegetable oil instead of milk
fat as a substitute. Through the name Real Milk Ice Cream AMUL was able to convey its
customers about the quality, simplicity and fair price for the product as compared to its
competition. Soon AMUL took up the ice cream market and became the market leader in the
segment. With raise in demand AMUL launched ice cream in different quantities and flavours.
Generic flavor ice creams are available in various quantity and variants .viii

a. Brick: It is a large quantity variant catering to more than 2 people and

also called as family pack. The price of this variant is relatively low
than small quantity variants. Also AMUL sells brick ice creams in basic
and mixed flavors like Butterscotch, Strawberry, Vanilla etc. In
addition to that several discounts and offers are also there like buy one get one free with this
variant in order to push customer to buy more.

b. Mixed Flavors: As the times passed competition came up with differentiation in their product
by different flavours and variants. To match up with the competition AMUL came up with
different variants of their offering keeping real milk ice cream at their base. AMUL had expertise
in chocolate sector as well as they were making milk chocolate before. Hence they launched

the chocolate flavour of the ice cream and different other flavours like butter, fruits as well.

c. Cone: As soon as competition started to offer Cone ice cream

priced at about Rs.22-25 AMUL also launched its cone variant at
a price range of Rs.10-15 in different flavours. The price
calculation AMUL made was through price of its ice cream and
biscuit material used to make cones and came up with relatively
very low price.

d. Tub: Ice cream bricks were an affordable option for middle class but the storage was a
challenge. Hence following the trend AMUL also brought Tub variant of the ice cream in 500ml,
750ml and 1 l variant in the market which was easy to store when not consumed.

e. Dry Fruit Mix: Seeing the market need AMUL also launched its base flavours like Milk,
Chocolate with dry fruit mix flavours. AMUL claimed that these ice creams were of superior
quality and were made of fresh milk, Superior dry fruits and nuts.

f.

Seasonal Fruits Flavour: Many local ice cream parlours used to sell seasonal fruit flavoured
ice creams which were not available in market. Also these parlours were not accessible to
everyone. Hence AMUL decided to go for seasonal fruit flavours as well like Mango etc. It
diversified AMULs portfolio further and helped gain some more market share.

Premium Range
As the brand grew in India, it decided to take the category to the next level through the launch of
its super-premium range of ice cream in India. This move of Amu lame after seeing the surge of
novelty products into the Indian market to cater to the new growing upper middle class particularly
in the metros. Though various foreign brands and other brands like Kwality walls made foray into
the Indian market in this category there was always a concern on the price point at which these
products were selling. But Amul has now brought 2 products in this range which can be afforded
by the Common Indian man.

a.

Epic: Amul EPIC was launched in New

Delhi on February, 2015 & in other major
markets across India by March15. At 16%
milk fat, Amul claims that EPIC today is the
creamiest ice cream which gives the taste
and richness that Indian palate has never experienced before. To make this product
more premium it has been made to have less aeration compared to regular ice creams.
The bars come coated with exotic Belgian chocolate, which has a richer in taste as
compared to regular chocolates.

b. Crme Rich: This product was launched in India in June, 2014 for
premium customers who want indulgence in rich ingredients & taste.
This ice-cream not only has lower amount of aeration and a higher
fat content than regular ice cream giving it a richer taste & more
volume but it also carries high value ingredients such as premium
nuts and fruits. It is available in 3 variants at 125 and 500 ml SKUs
at a price point starting from Rs. 35/- ix.

5.

Competitive Landscape

Regional & National brands

Kwality Walls: The frozen dessert brand under HUL is spread across the Indian subcontinent and
is dated back to 1956. It is a pan Indian brand with major sub brands like Cornetto, Cassatta. It is
the second largest with 9.8% market share. With the launch of Magnum, it achieved entry in to
the premium segment at a price point of Rs. 85/-.Kareena Kapoor is the current ambassador for
the Magnum premium range. Swirls is the exclusive parlor of Kwality with the fun image providing
great consumer experience at strategic locations. It allows customers to have special moments of
indulgence on the move x.

Mother dairy: Started in 1974 as a subsidiary of National Dairy

Development board and diversified with ice-creams and other value
added products. Recently, they introduced the pure indulgence
product, Belgiyum in the premium line priced at Rs. 80/-. They have
developed multiple ranges like Lic Lolleez, Chillz, Fruito lic
targeting only the GenY with flavors like exotic fruits keeping in
mind the openness of youth in experimenting on flavorsxi.

Vadilal: It has its origins in Ahmedabad is the fourth largest ice cream player in terms of market
share as per Euro monitor. They cater to all consumer segments with over 50 plus flavors. From
being a regional outlet, they have hangouts referred to as 'Happinezz' across India today serving
specialized scoops, well-crafted taste variantsxii.
Creambell: RJ Corporation introduced it in India with technological alliance with Candia, French
Dairy. With its Quality and product innovation, it is currently across 19 states. It is concentrating
on reaching across the country while gaining high acceptance in hospitality sector xiii.

Hatsun (Arun): Chennai based company sells its dairy products as Arun, Arokya etc .At the same
time they operate its franchise outlet under the brand name Ibaco ice creams in South India. They

have positioned itself as the 'an ice cream destination ' with its flexibility in creating ones own
toppings and sauces xiv.

Havmor: A major ice cream brand in Western India, today it has 30,000+ outlets. It intends to
achieve pan India presence 2020 with a brand promise of goodness, truth and hygiene xv.

Global brands in Indiaxvi

Haagen Dazs: In India, General Mills India manages the French brand of ice-cream. It focuses
on retail outlets and premium hotels as its point of sale. They have 22 flavors referred to as
'creation made with ice-cream', while only 7 are catered to via hotels. The lowest price point is
Rs. 400 for their standard menu offerings.
Movenpick: Nestle introduced it in 2001 and it offers variants like tropical fruit sorbets and other
combinations, currently managed by Nestle Super Premium, they utilise 3 specific channels of
catering and hotels, retail outlets(boutiques),gourmet food stores (selective retail outlet) in the
major metros. Pricing is 50-60% above market average as it is imported from Switzerland and is
affected by the exchange rates.
Minimelts: It is held by Honeybee Amusements and it looks to use its local sourcing to keep price
at a lower point for the consumers. The strategy is to have a wide distribution network with kiosks,
stores in malls and theme parks. Also in offing is the 'Kids cafe' network.

6.

Issues

The ever increasing number of brands that vied for a share of the pie of ice-cream industry as
evident from the competitive landscape clearly posed a threat for the Amuls current market
leadership. The regional, national and global brands were developing and innovating not only with
respect to the product line extensions and variants but also were establishing special parlors and
outlets around it. They assured delightful customer experiences and were entering premium
segment with high priced offerings catering to every segment of consumer wh ile Amul was yet to
see its premium segment take off.

7.

References

i
Das, Sohini. "Brands Play To The Ice Cream Stands". Business-standard.com. N.p., 2016.
Web. 8 Aug. 2016.
ii

"Ice Cream Market In India". Industry-report.net. N.p., 2016. Web. 8 Aug. 2016.

iii
Marketline (2015) Ice cream in India industry profile. [Online] Available at: Marketline
Advantage Database. [Accessed 3rd August 2016]
iv
Marketline (2015) Ice cream in India industry profile. [Online] Available at: Marketline
Advantage Database. [Accessed 3rd Augusst 2016]
v
Marketline (2016) Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. company profile.
[Online] Available at: Marketline Advantage Database. [Accessed 6th August 2016]
vi

"Organisation :: Amul - The Taste Of India". Amul.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 8 Aug. 2016.

vii

"Amul Ice Cream". Amulicecream.in. N.p., 2016. Web. 8 Aug. 2016

viii

"Amul Ice Cream". Amulicecream.in. N.p., 2016. Web. 8 Aug. 2016.

ix
"Amul Launches Super Premium Ice Cream - CreMe Rich". The Telegraph. N.p., 2016.
Web. 8 Aug. 2016.
x

"Kwality Wall's". Wikipedia. N.p., 2016. Web. 8 Aug. 2016.

xi
"Mother Dairy Enters Premium Ice Cream Segment With Its 'Belgiyum Choco Bar'".
timesofindia-economictimes. N.p., 2009. Web. 8 Aug. 2016.
xii

"Journey Of Vadilal - Vadilal Icecreams". Vadilal Icecreams. N.p., 2016. Web. 8 Aug. 2016.

xiii
"Cream Bell Innovation | Ice Cream Flavors | Best Ice Cream Maker". Creambell.com. N.p.,
2016. Web. 8 Aug. 2016.
xiv
Marketline (2016) Hatsun Agro Product Limited. company profile. [Online] Available at:
Marketline Advantage Database. [Accessed 6th August 2016].
xv

"HISTORY Havmor Ice Cream". Havmor.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 8 Aug. 2016.

xvi
"Global Ice Cream Brands Home In On IndiaS Growing Affluent
Knowledge@Wharton". Knowledge@Wharton. N.p., 2016. Web. 8 Aug. 2016.

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