Baskin-Robbins has plans to add around 100 parlours in the current fiscal year, expanding its network further, as the company is looking for double-digit growth in sales, helped by multiple growth drivers, including the expansion of ice cream parlours and new offerings.
Mohit Khattar, CEO of Graviss Foods, the Indian franchise partner of Baskin-Robbins, said, “Last year, we crossed 850 ice cream parlours, and this year (FY24), the plan is to add another 100 parlours to our network. Most of the expansion would be through its franchise partner, though the company would also open some of them.
“The idea is to keep penetrating, keep going down, and extend the brand into new cities, and we expect the market to grow about 15 to 16 per cent and further,” said Khattar.
“In the last couple of years, we were outperforming the market, and this year, we expect to grow higher than the market.” Baskin-Robbins is the largest player in the premium space of the ice cream market, Khattar said.
As the mercury rises in April, Khattar expects sales to be on track. “We were expecting March to be super-hot, but it did not happen. But from last week in April, heat has started building up again, and as of now everything is on track,” he said, adding, “There was a bit of worry at the end of March, but it’s all opening up now.” The US-based ice cream chain, which has been operating in India since 1993 through a master franchise agreement with Graviss Group, runs over 850 ice cream parlours across 230 cities.
According to Khattar, Baskin-Robbins is the second-largest QSR (quick service restaurant) chain operator after Jubilant Foods, which has the Domino’s Pizza franchise in the country. Besides ice cream parlour channels, Baskin-Robbins is also present in modern trade formats as a supermarket and a leading e-commerce platform.
It is also present in the B2B channels as food service space and hospitality space, he added. The company has set up a unit in Pune that caters to its requirements in India and some neighbouring countries, such as Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Mauritius.
According to Khattar, the premium ice cream market is growing, though it has a small share in the overall ice cream market of the country, which is estimated to vary from Rs 14,000 crore to Rs 20,000 crore. The premium ice cream market is around 10 per cent of the total branded market.
The Indian ice cream market is largely dominated by unorganised or small city-based brands, mostly operating through push carts.