By Raunak Haldipur
Chocolates are something that most people love, especially dark chocolates which are also said to have health benefits. Cocoa, according to health professionals, is a rich source of antioxidants, iron, calcium and other minerals besides its ‘bitter’ taste. Leveraging this research, Amul is planning to bet big on chocolates and is going head to head with bigwigs of the chocolate and confectionary industry.
The Amul marketer, GCMMF, is getting a new recognition as India’s ‘dark chocolate maker’ as it offers nutritionally-rich cocoa with maximum quantity in a chocolate bite making the chocolate consumption a healthy affair. Having chocolates with up to 75 percent cocoa content, Amul now plans to launch 100 percent cocoa chocolates, setting a new benchmark for the chocolate industry.
The journey until now
In 1973, Amul entered the chocolate business to supply chocolate for its own ice-cream variants. Later, Amul chocolates were launched with the tagline “a gift for someone you love.” For decades, chocolates failed to get attention in the milk-dominated operations of the company.
However, in mid-2016, Amul revamped its chocolate branding and introduced dark chocolate in different varieties. They are currently sourcing cocoa from seven countries including Tanzania, Venezuela, Peru, Madagascar, Ivory Coast, Ecuador and Columbia and offer their range of dark chocolates from these origins with their branding on the packaging. This is a part of their branding exercise. Amul sells their chocolates in 150-gram bars.
Brand revamp and long-term goal
Amul has invested ?300 crores to upgrade its chocolate facility at Mogar, increasing the capacity from 200 tonnes per month to 1,000 tonnes with an excess room for doubling the capacity at the same premises. From a current turnover of ?150 crores from chocolates, Amul looks to touch ?1,000 crores in turnover by 2020 as the awareness and acceptance for their dark chocolate products rises.
This only means more money to the farmers. Higher earnings of GCMMF will be ultimately distributed among the farmers. This way, Amul is redefining their brand with a more inclusive portfolio including premium offerings like chocolates, which are in line with the pure and natural image of the brand.
Amul has also taken to a digital revolution where they have started selling their products online. They currently sell and deliver only in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar. However, looking at their rapid expansion plans, they will serve other cities in India soon. They also have an application on the Google Play store from where registered customers can order their products, including chocolates.
Moreover, they offer free delivery service guaranteed to reach the customer on the same day the order was placed. They are also luring customers to buy online by providing a discount of 10% on their chocolates. Looking at their growth, they seem to be on the path to reach their turnover goal by 2020.
Featured Image Source: Balaji Bharadwaj on Visualhunt / CC BY
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