Cocoberry

HEALTH/DESSERTS

Cocoberry -    India's Award Winning Premium Yogurt Chain

India's Award Winning Premium Yogurt Chain Cocoberry is India's first premium frozen yogurt chain. Our name is a blend of the words "Coco" from Cocoa beans and "Berry" from the assortment of fruits that we serve along with freshly made Non-Fat Frozen yogurt. We also serve a selection of hot and cold beverages such as coffees, teas and smoothies. We are currently serving 4 flavors of "froyo" in three portions sizes, S,M,L and all of which are customizable with fresh fruit such as Blueberries, Strawberries, Kiwi, Mango, Pomegranate, Musk Melon and Black Grapes or dry toppings such as Oreo Cookies, Snickers, Granola, Sliced Almonds, Walnuts. Cocoberry also serves a variety of freshly made sandwiches.

A Frozen Dessert That is Good for You Cocoberry's most unique differentiating factor from most frozen dessert's is that it has the natural goodness of non-fat frozen yogurt such as calcium, protein, live and active culture and is low in fat and provides you with a healthy dessert choice. Cocoberry is made with fresh probiotic cultures, yogurt and non-fat milk. It is scrumptiously, healthy and low- fat, something that one wants and needs! Cocoberry Frozen Yogurt is a meal in itself. Our Yogurt Parfait is a complete nutritious blend of yogurt , granola and fruit, while giving you a tantalizing taste of all three delights,i.e.the creaminess of yogurt, the crunchiness of granola and the tartness of berries,it also gives a complete balanced and nutritious meal.

It Is So Good That You Want More And More And More…. Have you ever gone on websites that have told you about how great their product is and how “scientifically proven” and “well researched” their product is ? Then there is a whole list of calories and charts claiming how few calories they have or how nutritious theirs is? Well.. we have too. Actually,we have to as per the rules, you see, but for me, our stuff is it! Have you ever gone to a place, say a café, or a parlor,or a pub or restaurant and had something, it could be healthy or something totally sinful and have had the urge to have a second one because it is so amazing. Cocoberry is exactly like that, you want to go back for more…it is so amazing, and the best part is yet to come, it is healthy!! So next time go ahead and try it, you can only enjoy it.

Interview with Mr. G. S. Bhalla, Founder & CEO, Cocoberry

What is the size of the yogurt market in India and at what rate is it growing annually?

Health & Wellness food market is pegged at Rs 110 billion and growing at nearly 35 percent rate annually. This leads to the steady growth of frozen yogurts. Though FroYo is a small portion with approximately 50 billion$ share of the overall market but it holds a huge potential.

Frozen yogurt is getting increasingly popular so as the steadily changing eating patterns with the growing demand of healthy eating option especially among upwardly mobile and health conscious people all the world over. And we at Cocoberry are trying to achieve the same in India by consistently introducing innovative frozen yogurt products to capture the emerging demand.

I am very confident about the Indian market. The concept has gained huge mindshare across metros and in fact started gaining share across Tier 2 cities. However in this flourishing market, the way a brand conceptualizes itself is quite significant as innovations alone do not suffice the demand, but it has to complement the preferred taste by the target group. A lot of players are mushrooming in the market however creating a customer oriented and a customized product is a challenge.

Due to growing demand from customers, we have laid out a concrete plan, which will expand Cocoberry’s footprint across India to 30+ cities in the next 24 months. With the market for probiotics and functional foods growing in India, Cocoberry’s authentic natural non fat probiotic yogurt is well poised to further capture the minds and hearts of Indians across the country.

In which year did you enter India and what is your current market share?

Cocoberry possesses over 90 percent of market share frozen yogurt hit the Indian market in 2009 via Cocoberry first and gradually become a huge rage amongst affluent Indians due to various product awareness campaigns initiated by us. Over the last 6 months a couple of players enetersted into the market however they are still very young to compete with.

What is your year-on-year rate of growth?

We have experienced over 300 percent y o y growth with pver 50+ outlets across various cities. We launched Cocoberry in Delhi / NCR in 2009 and the strategy was to penetrate across all metros. We have developed a wide presence across prominent cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Nagpur, Goa, Jaipur and Ahmedabad in a short span of 2 and half years through our franchise model of expansion. With the market for probiotics and functional foods growing in India, Cocoberry’s authentic natural non fat probiotic yogurt is well poised to further capture the minds and hearts of Indians across the country.

Who are your competitors in the frozen yoghurt segment?

The market for frozen yogurt is expanding. There are larger players like Danone and Nestle in the health and beverage segment already but we believe there is still opportunity in this category as it is growing at almost 40 per cent. I don’t see other players as competition as such. Cocoberry is a strong brand backed with great product range. Consistent innovation in the products and strategic expansion are our key differentiators. Our product is all natural and probiotic. I would again mention that the market opened up in the last six months with a few international players into the segment with one or two outlets each are at their nascent stages. However it seems to be a healthy sign in the market and being market leaders and innovators, we are glad to welcome more players into the market to emulate Cocoberry's success.

What percent of your menu comprises of yoghurt and how big is the beverage portfolio?

Cocoberry is India’s first award winning Premium Frozen Yogurt chain holds out 90 percent of yogurt in its menu. It comprises of an assortment of Cocoberry Yogurts, Yogurt Cones, Cocoberry Sundaes, Cocoberry Parfaits and Smoothies. The products have been derived out of the perfect combinations of fresh exotic fruits, skimmed milk and yogurts, wide array of Fruit Purees and Healthy Dry toppings.

Do you plan to enter other markets outside India as well?

Right now we are aggressively focusing penetrating in the domestic market as there is a huge opportunity out here. We would look at expanding our footprints both domestically and internationally to reach a total outlet count of 500 by the end of 2015. Middle East market seems to be a significant market to capitalize on to begin with.  

What are the current challenges in the business? Which are your major markets in India?

Lower consumer awareness for frozen yogurts in smaller cities and to some extent in metros too is a key challenge. Besides that high rentals and low per capita consumption by the target consumer holds back the scalability. Well trained manpower and high quality manufacturing units are one of the major challenges in India.

Are you also seeing demand for frozen yogurt from tier II and tier III towns in India? What are your expansion plans?

Using our franchise model of expansion, we have planned to look at Tier – 2 cities too due to the surging demand of frozen yogurts in these areas. Further extensive dispersion across the metros is the major plan on the strategy front.