FMCG company Ghodawat Group is all set to launch packaged drinking water containing gold nano particles under its ‘Star’ brand by the end of September 2014. The group will also launch five namkeen variants on September 11. Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Goa will be the initial markets for the two launches.
Furnishing details about the products, Shrenik Godhawat, Director, Sanjay Ghodawat Group, said: “Star555 Gold water is our patented process on which we have been working for the past four to five years through consultants and research and development.It will be a new concept in the market. Gold is good for controlling BP, reducing the stress levels, and providing energy. Taking an average percentage, one litre of water will have .001 gms of gold. The packaged water will be available in 1 litre, 250 ml, and 500 ml and 20 litre jar. One litre bottle will cost Rs 20.”
He further added that the for the water division, the company has already invested Rs 10 crore so far in the machinery and the plant. An additional Rs 1 crore to Rs 2 crore will be invested for the working capital. The production will begin once the BIS certification is received by September end. Set up four months ago, the plant is located at Kolhapur, Maharashtra and spreads across 25,000 sq.ft. Revealing the production capacity of the plant, Godhawat said 120 bottles would be produced per minute.
Star555, the namkeen brand of the group, will launch Matar Masti, Singh Bhujia, Aloo Bhujia, Spicy Mix, and Moong Daal along with potato chips in three variants, namely, Masala, Premium, and Tomato. Star Fataake, a corn snack is another product to be launched on September 11.
“Our namkeen plant was set up in 2010-11. Its manufacturing capacity stands at around 600 tons per month. The production will begin few days before the launch date. Initially, we are targeting the mass segment so the snacks and namkeens will be available in a five rupee pack for 15-25 grams. We were already manufacturing snacks for different MNC’s under private labels. For eg, the entire range of Leher range for PepsiCo was manufactured by us through a separate entity Excelus Star, a JV with Mumbai-based company Excelus which is still functional. Expanding our horizon in distribution, we decided to launch our own namkeen brand,” said Godhawat.
In the next three months, Godhawat plans to launch bigger namkeen variants in half kg and1 kg packs available for Rs 10, and Rs 20, respectively. The namkeens will be available in organised retail outlets when family packs are launched.
“We aim to be among the top three players in namkeens and water space in the next three to five years. For this fiscal, we are targeting a turnover of Rs 40 crore to Rs 50 crore from both the divisions while next year we are looking at a turnover of Rs 150 crore to Rs 200 crore,” he disclosed.
Godhawat Group; headquartered in Kolhapur, Maharashtra; entered FMCG with the launch of Star refined edible oil in the year 2000 with a manufacturing capacity at Chipri, Kolhapur District. It currently has 200 distributors. Star refined oil is available with organised retailers like Biz Bazaar, D Mart, and Star Bazaar in Kolhapur, Pune, and Ratnagiri. The Group primarily operates in the semi-urban and rural markets as of now.
