Elephant House flavoured milk launched, finally
View(s):Late, but it’s never too late. Ceylon Cold Stores (CCS), manufacturers of the Elephant House brand has launched Chocolate, Strawberry and Vanilla UHT flavoured milk variants this season.
A strong brand with widespread distribution network, but a late entrant into a relatively crowded market with products such as Anchor Newdale, Nespray Nutri Up, Richlife, Daily, Kotmale, Highland, Ambewela etc, analysts say that it will not be easy for CCS to stand out and gain material market share in the medium term.
CCS is also slated to open their new ice cream plant in May this year. Analysts say that with this plant operational, will give CCS improved capacity particularly on their range of sticks and cones which will strengthen their position in the impulse segment of the market. They also are cottoning onto a new bottling plant which will strengthen their position, analysts predict.
The consumption level of ice cream is quite low in the country compared to other more developed countries in the region but analysts believe CCS’s volumes will increase as disposable incomes grow.
CCS, a subsidiary of John Keells Holdings PLC has been trying to balance its focus on carbonated soft drinks (CSD) substitutes after it launched Fit-o fruit drink in 2016.
Analysts say that CCS’s challenges are many with increasing number of consumers opting to be more health conscious. In a bid to combat this CCS replaced sugar with natural sweeteners for selected products. The company competes strongly with Coca-Cola in the beverages business. CCS accounts for more than 55 per cent of market share in CSD and ice cream segments.
Founded as the Colombo Ice Company, which imported and used the country’s first ice making machine, the CCS moved on to build cold storage for frozen products of all kinds and introduced aerated water with the distinctive “Elephant” trademark on the bottles, which remained a popular household name for the brand. For over 150 years, CCS has expanded and refined a range of popular soft drinks and ice cream products that are sold across the island today.