Frozen yoghurt chain Cocoberry is looking at extending its product portfolio. The retailer plans to introduce breakfast options and nutritional beverages in the next two-to-five years.
G S Bhalla, Founder and CEO, Cocoberry, said: “The future for Cocoberry is that you will see a lot of consumer packaged goods on grocer’s shelves. We are looking at yoghurt as a product category, both frozen and non-frozen. The company is also looking at launching healthier, hygienic, and nutritional beverages that are at a developmental stage right now. Breakfast options is another thing we are looking at in a big way because given the changing lifestyle in India, people are looking at breakfast as an important meal. So, overall you will see Cocoberry as a very strong consumer facing brand in the next two-five years than as a frozen yoghurt brand right now. Frozen yoghurt is a part of the Cocoberry story but not the full story, which is yet to unfold.”
He said the company plans to reach a store count of 150-180 outlets in the next 2 years and have a fairly strong controlled distribution all over the country for other Cocoberry products for consumers to sample.
Bhalla reveals that the brand will be adding around 80 stores all over the country in 12-15 months to reach a total of about 130 outlets. Cocoberry also plans an overseas foray (Middle East and South-East Asia) in the next couple of years but currently the brand is being incubated in India. According to him, Cocoberry plans to invest Rs 30-35 crore for opening new stores this fiscal. Not being present in southern part of the country, the retailer is looking at entering the region. He also said that the company has been growing at a rate of 200-300 percent year-on-year. The company plans to raise around 15 mn dollars in the next couple of years for expansion. Cocoberry currently spends 15 percent of its revenue on advertising and marketing, the percentage is likely to be reduced with time.
Speaking about the chain’s plan of overseas foray, Bhalla said that Cocoberry is trying to change the common perception that to be successful an Indian retailer has to bring a foreign brand into the country. “To be successful you can create a brand in India, take it to the world and still create the next McDonald’s or Starbucks or whatever you could potentially create,” he added.
Commenting on choosing frozen yoghurt over other desserts for his entrepreneurial journey, he said that frozen yoghurt is a healthier replacement to ice-creams or any other form of dessert. Also, majority of the people in the country have a sweet tooth. “People have many options in terms of food, but very few options in terms of dessert, and even fewer options in terms of healthier dessert. The new Cocoberry campaign ‘100 percent sin zero percent guilt’ is very much on the same line,” Bhalla added.
“The only regret I have is I wish I was better in terms of hiring and evaluating people but unfortunately when you hire someone you don’t have much time to evaluate them,” he discloses.
The company does not follow a franchise business model, though it had once tried franchising. “Unfortunately in India, single-unit franchising does not work. There is a disconnect between franchisees expectations and what you are trying to do with your brand. Franchising as a concept is fairly unsuccessful for food business in India, For clothing, shoes, etc, it may work as they are finished products whereas in food business the product is actually being made in the stores. So maintaining high standards and hygiene, interacting with customers, and making every single experience great for them is better handled through our exclusive stores,” said Bhalla.
Cocoberry follows a rental business model and does not buy real estate for its stores. The brand prefers high streets over malls for its upcoming stores. “High streets are typically non-cyclical, they are not weekend locations but week-long locations. Malls may see a lot of weekend footfalls or holiday footfalls, whereas in high streets the entire week is pretty consistent,” Bhalla added.
Talking about the customer preferences in terms of flavour, Bhalla mentioned: “Some customers prefer sour taste of the yoghurt while some prefer a more sweeter taste, so we develop both sweet and tart recipes. That’s one key learning; we have to adapt ourselves to each region. However, within the same city, not necessarily geographically different region, more or less the offering remains the same.”
Started in February 2009, Cocoberry has around 51 locations in 10 cities across India offering 6-8 flavours and 50 toppings in frozen yoghurt.
