Heritage Novandie Foods Private Limited commenced its operations in 2017 and is a 50:50 Joint Venture Company of Heritage Foods Limited, Hyderabad and Novandie, France. The company has been manufacturing and marketing various types of yogurt, including other dairy products in India from its state-of-the-art production facility located in Palghar near Mumbai.
In an exclusive conversation with Claus from Food Infotech, Vivek Mani, CEO, Heritage Novandie Foods Private Limited discusses about the rising demand among consumers in India for products that can protect their health and well-being, their plans for expansion into other cities in India with their diverse range of products and much more.
Q How has the Yogurt business been performing over the past one year?
Health and wellness have become the primary focus of consumers and will continue to be a priority. Nowadays, consumers are being increasingly concerned about the hygiene, quality and safety of food products, especially dairy products. More and more health-conscious consumers are now moving towards milk and related products to supplement food with nutrition required for the body. The last decade has witnessed a clear shift of the market from carbonated drinks to milk products. According to recent Industry Reports, the Global Yogurt Market is estimated to reach US$171.8 Billion by 2031, by growing at a CAGR of 5.5% from 2022 to 2031. It was valued at US$97,999.50 million in 2020. The pandemic has significantly impacted the growth of yogurt market in the country. Trends like yogurt snackification, rise in awareness of nutritional and immune boosting food, etc. contributed to the rise in yogurt consumption. This will further create opportunities for industry players to innovate and introduce new products in the segment.
Q Your company has recently launched drinkable yogurt products. So, would you tell us more on the innovations applied by your company in any of these products?
Our drinkable flavoured yogurt, i.e. Yo Pop is India’s first set yogurt that can be transformed into an on-the-go drink. This is a set yogurt, which means you will not see anything liquid if you pick the cup. You have to shake the cup till you hear the curd break or pop. That’s when you know that the soft curd had broken into a liquid that could be drunk when you open the lid to drink this product.
Mamie Nova is a 50-year old brand under which Novandie has been selling gourmet yogurts with fruits. We are glad to bring such a lovely brand with a great legacy to India. The range that Mamie Nova has to offer is diverse – multi-layered yogurt, bi-layered yogurt where you see an entire layer of fruits to different layers of yogurts and fruits. With Mamie, we aim to address the demand from this younger, health and wellness-conscious consumer.
We aspire to reach a space where we can introduce products like these, which will soon find a strong place in the dessert category. We are currently picking cues from the consumer survey that we have done. Going ahead, we are trying to develop combinations that would attract kids and adults alike. Because in our mind, we think yogurt as a segment doesn’t have a particular age group.
Q What are the growth strategies you’ve adopted to expand the presence of your company into other cities in India, considering the fact that consumption of yogurt continues to be comparatively lower among the consumers in India?
We look at this like a two pronged approach – geographic expansion and diversifying our product range. The last few months have been quite exciting for our growth journey, as it has marked our entry into the South Indian Market. We have already launched in Hyderabad and Bangalore recently, as these are appealing markets for many reasons: They have a high adoption rate of new products. The category is big in the region and of course a great food culture. In the next six months, we will also look at other Tier 2 cities in the South. Goa is also a lucrative market for us, as the product category remains in high demand there. The consumer pool in the city/state will also allow us to test the product better. While, we are already present in Mumbai and Pune in Maharashtra, our next stops will probably be to expand into other major cities. Our products are also well suited to be part of the HoReCa supply chain.
Coming on to category expansion, there are some fresh, exciting flavours waiting in the launch pipeline. We have four ready recipes for the Stirred Range and the Yo Pop derived from some exotic fusion flavour combos. Also, we have recently launched Natural French probiotic yogurt in all markets, expanding our product portfolio. Engaging in the festive season, we have also introduced unique gourmet gifting experience boxes with our customized pack-of-four unit, an assortment of all the flavours available in the two categories.
Q Currently, in how many cities do you have a presence?
Currently, we have our network expanded to 9 cities across the country and this includes major metros as well as the Tier 2 cities.
Q Tell us a little about the health aspects involved in consumption of your recent products.
Every product is curated focusing on the health aspect for the benefit of our consumers. Probiotic yogurt is also one of the most widely used probiotic foods. As per Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), probiotics is defined as live microorganisms, which when administered in an adequate amount will ensure various health benefits, such as improving digestion, strengthening immunity and more. The addition of probiotics in yogurt along with the nutrients already present provides a good balance of protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, fats and minerals, which are very good for health.
Combining the intake of fruit-flavoured yogurt could help to provide a mixture of vitamins and minerals, prebiotics, probiotics, high-quality protein and important fatty acids that have the potential to exert synergistic effects on health.
Q Please let us know about your retail partners.
We are there on E-commerce platforms such as BigBasket and Amazon (Mumbai and Pune), Nature’s Basket, JioMart, FreshtoHome (Bangalore and Pune), Swiggy Instamart (Mumbai), SPAR Hypermarket (Bangalore and Hyderabad), Vijetha & Ratnadeep (Hyderabad), SuperDaily, Q Mart, Star Bazaar, etc. We are also in 150-200 stand-alone supermarkets. We are also available at Reliance Retail outlets across our geographical network.
Q How does having your own manufacturing facility benefit the brand?
The manufacturing unit located at Palghar is about 80 km away from Mumbai. We hold a current production capacity of 20 tons per day, which caters to our current line of Stirred Yogurt and Yo Pop variants. However, we have already planned ahead for the launch of our new variants and those flavours would also be manufactured at the same facility without the need for an expansion. The brand maintains extremely high standards of product manufacturing and delivery, with constant inputs from our International French partners as well and we are indeed one of the only yogurt brands who have been manufacturing our products in our own factory from day one. This not only allows us to have complete control and jurisdiction over our products, but also ensures our commitment towards providing fresh products in the right quantity at the right time across all channels.
Q What’s next in the pipeline for 2022?
As of now, we have a few direct collaborations with HoReCa and are likely to expand further, especially with the new product range in the coming months. It’s a large channel for us and we would want to ensure that we make the most of this opportunity through proper market research. Our products are already available in some co-working spaces in Maharashtra on yogurt stands of hotels and office snack bars. Next, we are looking at collaborations with airline services, hotels and catering partners. Our market research analysis will allow us to plan this expansion better in the coming months with an aim to solve key issues through our products, such as high shelf life, which would be appreciated in the HoReCa segment.
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