Tale of "Your Ice cream Destination": Ibaco
A lazy food craving Saturday evening we reached the new Ibaco Ice Cream parlour opened at Sasthamangalam and after having heard positive reviews about the place, we stepped in and ordered. They have quite a unique approach to their orders like scoops weighed in grams and you can top it with anything from their choice of toppings ranging from berries to chips to fruit gums and have a variety of exotic tastes and waffles. The shop is nicely done, comfortable but not intimidatingly posh. While talking to the store staff I came to know that both Arun Ice Creams and Ibaco belong to the same umbrella of Hatsun Agro Product which has other products Arogya milk, Hatsun ghee etc. Earlier the only time I have come across the name Ibaco was when they launched Cake Icecreams in 2013. They had launched operations of the brand Ibaco in 2012. I was quite excited to come across the news that the familiar names belonged to the same group and hence here is a gist about the company :
It was founded by Mr R. G Chandramogan as “RG Chandramogan & Co” in 1970. In 1986, RG Chandramogan & Co was established as ‘Hatsun Agro Products Ltd’. It was a rag to riches story when Mr Chandramogan, who discontinued his education early on to support his family and at the age of 21 with a meagre capital of 13,000 rupees he moved to Royapuram, Chennai. He first started making ice candies in a rented place about 250 sq.ft and travelled every street, every lane of the city on foot and on bicycles. The existence of such a cottage industry setup was much threatened due to its unorganised nature and the fact that the market leaders then were big players.He managed to keep it afloat with his persistent efforts. By 90’s their business crossed Rs. 3 crore from Rs. 1.5 lacs turnover in the initial year, a huge thing for a first generation entrepreneur with zero support.The Company also operated a Leather Division for the export of leather garments and has since been sold.
They became one of the biggest players in Tamil Nadu and saw more opportunity in dairy business as they were in contact with farmers across the State. They ventured into production of fresh milk, ghee, milk powder etc.
In 1995, they decided to concentrate on the marketing of Ice cream and other Dairyproducts and shut down everything elseclose. By then brand Arogya and Arun had established a dominant market share. For Sourcing Ice cream and other dairy products, the company has entered into an arrangement with its suppliers and has avoided middlemen.
The company has shifted its concentration from being a commodity producer (like milk powder or milk) to the business of branded diary pice cream, milk such things with a careful approach.Agreement for payment of lump sum consideration in lieu of royalty payable for usage of Brand Name for Rs. 363 lakhs to Mr. Chandramogan.Agreement for Non-Competition from Promoters for Rs. 440 lakhs and Agreement for sourcing Ice Cream and other Dairy products with Atlantic Foods, Salem a Proprietorship concern of Mr. Chandramogan and Hatsun Foods, a Partnership Firm in which Mr R. G. Chandramogan is a part.
They are the largest private sector dairy company in India and is an 8000 crore conglomerate. They have won several Awards and Certifivcations like Golden Trophy of the Agricultural and Processed FoodProducts Export Development Authority, ISO 22000:2005, HALAL etc. Mr Chandramogan is one among the 113 Indian Billionaires, with a fortune of $1.45 billion as per 2017 stats. They sell its milk brand confined to South India due to short shelf life of the products. But products like ghee, dairy whitener are available in North India and northeastern states. The company also ship its products to 38 countries. They presently engage about 8000 staff. They have also ventured into Wind Powerplants in 2017 and have set up in 12 plants in Tuticorin last year.
The Ice cream business initially launched with brand name Arun later on added parlour chains in the name of Arun Ice creams which is a no-frills kind. Presently Arun have about 1,000 exclusive parlours out of which 670 are in Tamil Nadu, 148 in Karnataka, and the rest in Kerala and Andhra Pradesh.Arun holds the image of the old-fashioned ice cream parlours that bring to mind cosy rooms with plastic chairs and roundtables, a freezer in a corner, operated by one person.
Ibaco is an exclusive chain of parlours with a premium approach and it is quite different from the Arun Icecream and offers a different range of products. As mentioned earlier Ibaco outlets let customers enjoy scoops of ice creams and toppings of choice. The Arun Ice cream unlimited Parlours about 45 in number would be rebranded to Ibaco outlets and more new outlets would be added.
