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Food industryThe Laughing Cow sets out to conquer the Indian market
The French group Bel is joining forces with the Indian biscuit manufacturer Britannia. Their joint venture aims for a turnover of 200 million euros per year.
The joint venture created by Bel Group and Britannia will manufacture The Laughing Cow from 2024 in a new factory in western India.
AFP
The French group Bel, parent company of The Laughing Cow, is teaming up with biscuit maker Britannia to convert the Indian market, heavy with 1.4 billion inhabitants, to Western cheese, the two companies announced on Tuesday. If dairy products hold an important place in the diet of the Indians, they, who are mostly vegetarians, are used to consuming local cheeses such as paneer, which do not require rennet – a coagulant extracted from the stomachs of young people. ruminants – for their manufacture.
“We are working to conquer India,” summarizes Cécile Béliot, general manager of Bel, which also owns Babybel and Boursin cheeses. The Bel group, born in the Jura in 1865 and which generated nearly 3.4 billion euros in turnover last year, is creating a joint venture with the Indian Britannia to tackle the “nascent” market. cheese in the South Asian giant, according to Cécile Béliot.
When know-how meets commercial power
Britannia owns 51% and Bel 49% of the joint venture, named Britannia Bel Foods Private Limited. It will market all of its cheeses under the Laughing Cow brand, the companies said in a statement. Bel “brings the brand, the know-how of the cheese. Britannia brings its understanding of the local consumer and its commercial power with an unequaled distribution network in India”, explains Cécile Béliot.
With over €1.5 billion in annual sales, Britannia is India’s largest biscuit maker. The company also produces sandwich breads, rusks and dairy products, including cheese slices for sandwiches. This cheese activity joins the joint venture which will also manufacture from 2024 The Laughing Cow in a new factory, within the Britannia industrial site located in the state of Maharashtra (west).
Investment of several tens of millions of euros
Bel is spending “several tens of millions of euros” in the operation, with a view to “creating a business of around 200 million in turnover” in India, indicates its general manager. The French group “wants to be the one who will have created the cheese category in India, to be one of the pioneers, while returning to local customs”.
(AFP)