Caribbean FMCG major GraceKennedy is foraying into India through a strategic tie-up with Delhi-based Dalmia Continental Pvt. Ltd.
“As planned, we will be launching Grace, the brand of processed foods and beverages, in India by the end of September 2007. Initially, our products will be imported from our units in Thailand and Jamaica. However, we might look at options of acquisitions, contract manufacturing, or setting up a greenfield unit in India, as and when we reach the designated scale of economy,” said Douglas Orane, chairman and CEO, GraceKennedy Ltd.
GraceKennedy is the largest marketer of food and beverage items such as sauces, juice drinks, juice powder mixes and processed meat in the Caribbean. To begin with, however, the company will introduce only a part of its product offerings in India. It will also explore options of acquisitions and setting up a manufacturing unit, once it achieves a critical mass in its operations in India.
GraceKennedy, a $620 million firm, sells its products across 36 countries through its five manufacturing units in the Caribbean and the United Kingdom, as well as through its other contract manufacturers in other parts of the world. The company covers over 60 per cent of the foods and beverages market in Jamaica.
The company’s Indian partner, Dalmia Continental, distributes and markets products such as Leonardo olive oil and Hudson Canola oil, and has interests in banking, insurance, dairy products, jute paper, distilleries and cement.
