To launch ice-cream factory in Hyderabad and Mumbai

Delhi-based premium ice-cream maker Gelato Vinto is looking to expand operations in the southern and western parts of the country.

It is planning to put up a factory near Hyderabad at an estimated investment of Rs 2 crore. The plant, which will have a capacity of 40,000 kg a month, is slated to go on stream by early 2015.

Currently, the company’s operations in the South are restricted to Chennai and Bangalore. It plans to expand in places such as Puducherry, Mysore, Coimbatore and Kochi. “By the end of this fiscal we will have a strong presence in the southern markets. The manufacturing facility will come up somewhere near Hyderabad around early 2015,” said Akshay Batra, Chief Operating Office of Gelato Vinto. The company reported a turnover of Rs 10 crore last fiscal.

Plans are also afoot to tap various regions of Maharastra, including Aurangabad, Nashik, Pune and Mumbai. According to Batra, a manufacturing facility is also being planned in Mumbai. The facility is likely to come up in late 2016 or early 2017.

Gelato Vinto’s only manufacturing facility at present is at Okhla in New Delhi.

New Warehouses

The company will invest nearly Rs 1 crore across three new warehouses, in Bhopal, Aurangabad and Pune. It currently has one in Ludhiana.

“Since we will be looking to increase our institutional sales (to hotels and caterers) along with our retail customer base, having warehouses at strategic points is imperative. Moreover, we have to ensure a cost-effective storage and delivery system, too,” said Batra.

Apart from company-owned outlets, the focus will be on shoring up presence through franchises. It has around 53 outlets at present, and intends to take it up to 80 by the end of this fiscal.

abhishek.l@thehindu.co.in