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Strategies & Market Trends : India Coffee House -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mohan Marette who wrote (9496)	11/9/1999 8:53:00 PM
From: Mohan Marette	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12475

DS Foods Ltd (Dvn of Dharmapal Satyapal Group) targets Rs 500cr turnover tulsi.com Richa Mishra (Bl) NEW DELHI, Nov. 9 DS Foods Ltd, a part of DS group of companies, proposes to touch a Rs. 500-crore turnover by 2003. The group, however, will continue focusing on its chewing tobacco brands. The current turnover from tobacco is Rs. 400 crores ($93 mil). The success of the 'Catch' brand made the group have a different company just for food and beverages, called DS Foods Ltd (DSFL) in 1998. "A search for something more and the need to become a household name made us diversify into food products," Mr. Rajiv Kumar, Managing Director, DS group, said. In 1987-88, Catch free-flowing table salt was introduced in the premium segment. It did not take long to become a household name, Vice-President (Group Corporate Affairs & HR), Mr. Ashok K. Aggarwal, said. Superior packaging and the purity of level of about 99 per cent have made these table salts a success, he said. Currently, the range offered includes black pepper, white pepper and chaat masala. DS group has recently launched a new variant in the oral gratifier segment 'Pass Pass', a natural mouth freshener. The market for oral gratifier is worth Rs. 1,000 crores. For 'Pass Pass', the target consumer is the teenagers. By 2001, the company proposes to have a market of Rs. 100 crores for 'Pass Pass'. It has introduced two variants of 'Pass Pass' with 'katha' and without `'atha'. The distribution network set up for the product will be two-fold -_ pan shops and through DS Foods distribution channel, viz., food and beverages channels which the company has cultivated through sale of its salt and pepper products. DSFL had recently launched spring water under the brandname 'Catch'. The company is competing with international brands such as Evion and Perrier. The company also proposes to export water. The target consumer belongs to two categories _ the man on the move and strivers. According to an NCAER report, there are about 11 lakhs such consumers who are on the move, 63 per cent in Delhi and Mumbai, 10 per cent in Calcutta and remaining in Chennai and others. The next target segment, climbers and strivers, has about 600 lakh consumers such as CEOs, entrepreneurs, high spenders and business and holiday travellers. They are those who choose aspirational brands The product will be available at all five-star hotels, embassies, clubs, restaurants, domestic and international airlines and premium departmental stores. Apart from this, the company also proposes to do direct selling to MNCs in the country. In phase-I, the product will be made available in four pack sizes in all the metros. Priced at Rs. 25 for 1-litre, the product is positioned in the premium segment. The company proposes to spend Rs. 5 crores in the first year on marketing the product. DSFL has also identified mass-based products such as tea and oil. These will be launched in another six months. The company is also positioning water as a 'beverage' and soon will be launching flavoured water and iced tea. The group is exporting its products to the UK, the US and West Asia.