Vadilal

Vadilal Industries Limited

Type	Public company BSE: 519156 NSE: VADILALIND
Industry	Conglomerate
Founded	1907^[1]
Headquarters	Ahmedabad, India^[2]^[3]
Key people	Ramchandrabhai Gandhi, (Chairman), Rajesh Gandhi Managing Director, Devanshu Gandhi Managing Director
Products	Ice cream, Processed food, Foreign Exchange, Chemicals, Real Estate
Revenue	4.5 billion (US$71 million)
Number of employees	1000
Parent	Vadilal Group
Website	www.vadilalicecreams.com

Vadilal (Vadilal Industries Limited) (BSE: 519156 | NSE: VADILALIND) From a small outlet in Ahmedabad over 80 years back, Vadilal Industries Ltd has today emerged as India’s second largest ice cream player. The company is also one of the largest processed food players in India with significant exports of frozen vegetables and ready to eat snacks, curries and breads.

Vadilal’s aim is to become an Indian MNC in Icecreams and frozen foods and to provide products and services at an affordable price without compromising on quality. Today they are the second largest food preservative seller in Gujarat.

History

Vadilal House, Ahmedabad

Vadilal Industries has come a long way since its inception in 1907, when Vadilal Gandhi, the great-grand father of Virendra R. Gandhi, Rajesh R. Gandhi and Devanshu L. Gandhi, started a soda fountain. He passed on the business to his son, Ranchod Lal, who ran a one-man operation, and, with a hand cranked machine, started a small retail outlet in 1926. Eventually, Ranchod Lal's sons,Ramchandra and Lakshman, inherited the business and they were instrumental in giving a new direction to the company. The duo imparted a new vision to the venture and infused a spirit of calculated risk-taking into the firm. As a result, by the 1970s, the Vadilal Company had already evolved into a modern corporate entity.

Products

Vadilal Industries has extensive reach. A major success factor has been its ability to cater to different market segments through multiple product ranges. Vadilal has range of ice creams in the country with 150 plus flavours and they are sold in a variety of more than 250 packs and forms. The range includes cones, candies, bars, ice-lollies, small cups, big cups, family packs, and economy packs. It offers something for all tastes, preferences and pockets.

Production Facilities

Vadilal Industries has two ice cream production facilities – one at Pundhra in Gandhinagar district, Gujarat and the other one at Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh. It has a very strong distribution network of 50,000 retailers, 250 SKUs (stock keeping units), 550 distributors, 32 CNF and 250 vehicles for delivery of goods. Through the franchisee route, Vadilal has set up over 140 'Happinezz' parlors for selling ice creams and new ones are coming up every month.

Processed Foods

Vadilal entered the processed foods industry to optimise utilisation of its extensive cold chain network in the 1990s. It currently caters to the domestic and export markets with products such as frozen vegetables and ready to eat snacks, curries and breads. This business is poised for strong growth in the coming years owing to greater urbanisation within India and increasing demand for Indian food amongst developed regions like the USA and western Europe.

The company’s national ice cream market share would have been even higher but for the fact that it does not operate in major consuming regions like Maharashtra and the four southern states as these are covered by another faction of the Vadilal family.

References