Naturals Ice Cream is on an expansion spree. The 35-year-old brand has 136 stores today. With an exceptional footfall in tier-l cities like Mumbai and Delhi, the company is all set to stitch up an expansion strategy aimed at contributing towards development in areas having strong ice cream consumption.
Siddhant Kamath, Director, Naturals Ice Cream, said that as ice cream is an industry dependent on seasonality, expansion plans such as these will prove to be a gain. We are excited to announce our rapid expansion mode, which will propel the company to the next level.To leverage our exclusive retail growth, the brand plans to open 15 new stores in the current financial year, along with the recently launched store in Surat, which marks our 136th store in the market. “
The brand plans to have about 150 stores by the end of this financial year by foraying into markets like Vadodara, Chandigarh, and Jabalpur. It is also planning to open new stores in Delhi, Hyderabad, and Kerala. As part of its growth strategy, the brand intends to have about 250 stores, mainly in the south and west of India, in the next three years. This will enable the brand to scoop up an estimated annual turnover of Rs. 165 crore. Naturals’ approach of regularly churning out innovative products in the form of new flavours enables the brand to deliver an unmatched experience to the consumer.
While the brand underwent quiet growth in the first few months of 2020, it recovered quickly during the Dec.20-Feb.21 period. To understand customers’ preferring packed products with better hygiene and tamper-proof seals, the brand launched easy-to-store mini packs during the lockdown, which contributed to about 10 percent of their sales. Further propelling their growth is their “Tough Tub” campaign, assuring consumers that their family packs are safe and cannot be tampered with.
Partnering with Rebel Foods, which operates a large network of cloud kitchens, enabled the brand to get better market penetration by targeting places where there are few Naturals outlets. Their direct-to-order platform that caters to customers who prefer having an end-to-end experience with Naturals enabled their sales to reach close to pre-COVID levels. Partnering with aggregator platforms has further propelled Naturals to grow aggressively.
The brand presently receives its supply from its exclusive manufacturing facility in Mumbai. It delivers an output of 20 tonnes a day, and keeping in mind the expansion mode, the company is looking at doubling this capacity.
Naturals Ice Cream is a leading artisanal ice cream brand, popularly known for its signature flavours like Tender Coconut and Sitaphal, that has consistently delighted consumers with its unique flavors, having made ice-creams using three key ingredients: fruits or dry fruits, milk, and sugar.