Rituparna Chatterjee – Mumbai
To broaden its product range under the ‘Go’ cheese brand and penetrate further into the Indian cheese market, Parag Milk Foods has tied-up with German cheese manufacturer Hochland Group and has introduced the latter’s premium category cream cheese product ‘Almette’ into the India market. Under this strategic alliance, the ‘Almette’ product, co-branded as ‘Go Almette’, is being produced by Hochland Group while Parag Milk Foods is importing and marketing it. The product is available in two variants – Original and Fine Herbs – and is priced at Rs 150 for 150 gms. ‘Go Almette’ will be available across all metro cities in select retail outlets. It has presently been rolled-out in Mumbai and will be available across other metro cities by January 2016. Parag Milk Foods also plans to tie-up with major e-commerce portals for consumers to buy it online.
Speaking about this strategic alliance, Mahesh Israni, chief marketing officer, Parag Milk Foods stated, “In 2014, the cheese market in India was pegged at US$ 195 million and a 31 per cent growth has been projected in the coming years. In 2014, the markets recording maximum cheese consumption in India was Maharashtra followed by Gujarat. Moreover, the cheese market is also growing in Tier II and III cities. After launching this product across major metro markets, we will be expanding its reach to Tier II cities as well.”
Elaborating more, Johannes E Rogg, division manager, new business development, Hochland SE, opined, “Go Almette is a premium category cream cheese and through this product we will be targeting the upper middle class segment. We wanted to enter the India market which is tough to understand and hence we decided to tie-up with Parag Milk Foods, one of the leading Indian manufactures and marketers of dairy-based products.”
Devendra Shah, chairman, Parag Milk Foods added, “Currently, we have launched two variants under Go-Almette and will soon be launching other variants as well. In the future we will be expanding our product portfolio with an increased focus on health and nutrition based products.” When inquired further on this, he declined to comment.