JOIN USHaving reinvented itself and the milkshake category in India, Keventers is now ready to take its learning and expertise to the ice cream category.
The company is set to launch Keventers ice cream parlours by April 2018, with plans to set up 30 outlets in the first year. Keventers CEO and Director Sohrab Sitaram said, "We have already recruited the corporate team, the launch process is already underway. The first year, we will launch with scoops and later, maybe two years hence, we intend to launch sundaes."
"Whatever we have done with the milkshake model is exactly what we will do with the ice cream model. For example, in terms of expansion, the strategy will be metro cities and tropical markets," he added. The company plans to tie up with manufacturing facilities across the country for a third-party manufacturing arrangement for its ice cream business.
Keventers is also looking at an FMCG pilot around the same time. "We want to experiment and see the viabilty of the business, as FMCG requires a lot of capital -- to get the distributor model working," he said. The company will start its pilot in Delhi by March, next year.
Keventers currently operates about 175 outlets. In the next five years, it plans to take it to 1,500 in India and 500 abroad. Focus of expansion will be the Gulf and Africa, followed by Southeast Asia.
In India, the company is beginning to consolidate its position in the South, with the launch of outlets in Chennai and Hyderabad. Bengaluru already has 21 outlets, and will total at 32 by March, next year. "We believe we will max out in Bengaluru at about 45 outlets, which will happen the following year. After that we will enter Belagavi, Hubballi, Vijayapura, Mysuru, Mangaluru, Udupi," said Sitaram.