Britannia New Zealand to launch new cheese flavours;

Venkatachari Jagannathan
15 September 2005

Chennai: The Rs110-crore turnover Britannia New Zealand Foods Private Limited has drawn up plans to beef up its dairy business. The company, a joint venture between Britannia Industries Limited and Fonterra Co-operative group of New Zealand, is present in four product segments — processed cheese, butter, ghee and dairy whitener.

According to Anupam Dutta, head, dairy business, the company has plans to launch four bread spread cheese variants, cheese dip and higher aroma ghee. "These are our plans. I am not in a position to divulge much at this stage," he remarks. The company''s products are marketed under Britannia Milkman. For the company, processed cheese brings in the bulk of the revenue. While dairy whitener generates revenues in certain markets, the ghee business is relatively small.

Marketing the dairy products under Britannia Milkman brand, Dutta says the company is not interested in institutional sales. "We are a focused player in selling our branded products. Institutional sales is very competitive and does not synchronise with our strategy."

On the company''s premium pricing strategy, he says, "All our dairy products are made from cows'' milk. So there is a slight premium for that."

Meanwhile, Britannia New Zealand has launched Anlene, a health drink. The malt-based product is the first of the several belonging to Fonterra lined up for launch in India. According to Dutta, Anlene is a drink for adults above 35 years. "Two cups of Anlene would provide the day''s calcium requirement and prevent the onset of osteoporosis or brittle bone disease."

According to him the presence of phosphorus, magnesium, zinc and vitamin-D in Anlene enables absorption of calcium by the body. If the body doesn''t get its calcium requirements, it draws calcium from the bones, which leads to the onset of osteoporosis.