NEW DELHI: Havmore Ice Cream, a brand that prides itself for using only pure milk ice cream, has said that around 15 to twenty per cent of its annual expense budget is put into marketing and advertising.

Havmore Ice Cream Ltd Vice-President Chaitanya Rele told indiantelevision.com that even before its launch in Delhi and north India that was announced yesterday, it has commenced a 360 degree promotion that covers not only television commercials but also social media apart from print media and bill boards. He said the company would put around Rs 125 crore in market development over the next three to four years, but clarified that this did not mean only advertising.

Rele revealed further that a major part of the expenditure will go on social media to reach out to the youth, and on TVCs, of which two are already on air. In addition, there will be one large media campaign every year.

Repeating the line of Havmor MD Ankit Chona that the brand itself was a hero and did not need a Bollywood or celebrity brand ambassador, however, Rele explained that Chhota Bheem was being used on its packaging to reach out to the young, apart from the fact that packaging was very perky, vibrant and authentic.

Ankit Chona said the brand will invest Rs 100 crores over the next 36 months which included a new Rs 100 crores new state-of-the-art ice cream manufacturing facility at Faridabad – expected to complete the first phase by December 2016 - and a production capacity of one lakh litres of ice cream per day. This new facility will increase an overall production capacity to 3.5 lakh litres of ice cream per day.

Ankit revealed that the company was a Rs 450 crore company in the last fiscal and hoped to become a Rs 1,000 crore company by 2020 with its pan-India Udaan plan.

Earlier at a press meet, chairman and managing director Pradeep Chona whose father Satish Chona had founded the brand in 1944 in Ahmedabad said there will also be a utility in south India in the next few months.

The Faridabad facility will manage a complete range of pure ice creams using milk as the main ingredient and maintaining the highest quality standards. In addition to the two plants in Gujarat, the new manufacturing facility will streamline the production as well as efficient distribution across the northern market.

Pradeep said: “We will introduce a diverse range of pure ice creams especially for consumers in Delhi taking into consideration the rich history and mouth-watering food as well as high consumption of ice cream. With Havmor, they will now enjoy pure and creamy varieties of unique flavours. We are confident that within no time, Havmor will reach every part of the city; gradually capturing the taste buds across North India.”

The brand had over 160 varieties of ice cream and added three new varieties every three months. He said the aim of the company was ‘Acchai, Sachai, Safai’ (Purity, truth, and cleanliness) and its plant in Gujarat was one of the cleanest in the country. He said Havmor uses pure cream while the Indian Industry has moved towards Frozen Dessert, a substitute made out of vegetable oils.

Ankit added that the ice cream industry would grow to a Rs 7,000 crore industry by 2018. The per capita consumption was 300 million to 400 million and 50 per cent of the sales were from the unorganized sector.

Havmor’s diverse range of products includes first of its kind flavors like saffron pinenuts, paan, whisky and a Chotta Bheem range targeting all segments of consumers from kids to adults.

Havmor’s strategic business focus and growth plan aims at exploring newer markets and strengthening its presence across India with an aggressive expansion plan which includes over 100 ice cream parlours and 10,000 retail outlets.

Ankit said as part of the exclusive retail expansion, Havmor is planning to open 10 exclusive ice cream parlours in New Delhi by June 2016 and another 25 by the end of the year.

Currently with over 30,000 retail outlets and with a strong presence in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Goa & Telangana, Havmor will aggressively expand its operations through various retail partnership and ice cream parlours across the northern region.