KENYA – Glacier Products Ltd, one of Eastern Africa’s leading ice cream and chocolate confectionery manufacturers, has expanded its portfolio with launch of a new line of yoghurt products and biscuit snack in Kenya.
Expanding its market share in East Africa’s leading economy, the owner of the famous Dairyland brand is enticing consumers with its new yoghurt containing real fruits.
The yoghurt is available in strawberry, vanilla, mango, blueberry, and orange flavors and unique blends of kiwi apple, peach mango, pineapple coconuts etc. coming in uniquely shaped 150ml and 550ml cups.
The dark-blue triangle shaped cups offer consumers a firm grip as they enjoy the dairy drink.
Further cementing its leadership position in the confectionery and snack market, Glacier, has unveiled a chocolate dip with biscuit snacks dubbed Dip-A-Snack.
The new products are an addition to its wide range of offerings i.e., ice-creams, chocolate compounds, chocolate bars, spray chocolate, coating chocolate, dessert topping sauce, chocolate spread and whipping cream.
Fast growing yoghurt market in Kenya
Kenya has one of the most developed value added fermented milk products in sub-Saharan Africa – and is second only to South Africa in terms of the development, diversity and value of the segment – buoyed by rising urbanisation, changing consumer preferences as they discover these tasty and nutritious products and rising incomes – even is rural areas of Kenya.
According to Euromonitor, yoghurt and sour milk products recorded both steady retail volume and retail value growth in 2020, despite the pandemic, benefitting from a number of factors, particularly a widening product selection.
With leading dairies Brookside, New KCC, Bio Food Products, Razco, Githunguri, Daima and multitudes of other players in the market with their yoghurt products, Glacier Products is entering a segment that has a full list of competitors to contend with.
With the company’s premium offering of fruit-based yoghurt products, they will be facing off with Brookside – the largest fermented products maker in Kenya – plus Bio Food Products and Razco for the consumer’s wallet.
New funding, food safety focus
Demonstrating its ability to control food safety hazards in the food chain and protect its consumers, the food processing company recently upgraded its Food Safety Management Systems Certification FSSC 22000 to version 5 which is the latest version in the FSSC standard.
“This certificate assures you as the customer that all our products have followed the food safety management principles and that we put consumers health and safety at the core of all our processes,” stated the company.
In a bid to further expand its presence in Kenya, Glacier crossed over to the Rift Valley region and opened its new offices in Nakuru. The new premise features a sales/administration office, chilled & frozen cold rooms as well as distribution trucks. This depot will serve the fast-growing regions of Rift Valley, Western, Nyanza, North and South Rift.
Further propelling its growth, the company recently received an undisclosed amount of investment from EXEO Capital, a leading pan-African private equity investment manager, through its Food and Agribusiness fund, Agri-Vie Fund II.
The financial and management backing is aimed to steer the producers of renowned Dairyland ice-creams and chocolates, towards continued sustainable growth.
EXEO Capital currently has approximately US$ 250 million assets under management, and has completed more than 25 transactions in several growth sectors across East and Southern Africa over the past 12 years.
Incorporated in 1979 and acquired by the current owners in 1995, Glacier has grown by leaps and bounds from a turn-over of KSH 10 million (US$100,000) at the takeover per year to the current figures above KSH 1 billion (US$10 million) as at 2018.
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