Reinforcing its commitment to expand the edible oils portfolio to South India, Cargill has announced the launch of Gemini Pureit in Karnataka.

Starting this month, the Gemini Pureit brand will be available to consumers across stores in four Southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Gemini brand and recently Gemini Sunflower oil was ranked the No.1 in Quality in India, by Consumer Voice amongst 12 other sunflower oil brands in the country.

The brand’s expansion into South India will be supported by the recently acquired facility in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh, which commenced operations in December last year. The 35 US million dollars investment to acquire and upgrade the Nellore facility has significantly expanded Cargill’s edible oil footprint in southern India and strengthened its existing supply chain to meet growing customer demand.

South India accounts for nearly two-thirds of the country’s sunflower oil consumption and is currently underserved. The plant, spread over 420000 sq. ft., has increased Cargill’s production capacity and its capability to supply sunflower oil, refined palm oil, palm olein, vanaspati, bakery shortenings, and sunflower oil to consumers.

Speaking at the launch, Avnish Tripathi, consumer business leader, Cargill Food Ingredients, South Asia, said, “The launch of Gemini Sunflower oil marks a key milestone in our journey to expand our presence in South India. With this launch, we are bringing a premium quality product that will cater to the needs of the consumers and customers in this market. At Cargill, we bring proven expertise in understanding trends and meet the needs of a wide set of food services and institutional customers, along with consumers through our superior offerings.”

Talking about the market focus on South and consumer trust in the brand, Subin Sivan, marketing and insights leader, Cargill Food Ingredients, South Asia, said, “Over the past four decades, Gemini has successfully built a legacy of trust with the consumers. With Gemini being a recognized sunflower oil brand, we are now taking the brand legacy of purity, freshness, and nutrition to millions of households across South India. We will keep evolving to cater to the needs of the consumers and focus on delivering the best quality products and solutions to them.”

Gemini is a market leader in Maharashtra and has recently been ranked as the No. 1 sunflower oil brand in India, as per a brand study by Consumer Voice. The study tested 12 Sunflower brands in India under over 20 quality parameters, as per the regulations of FSSAI (Food Safety & Standards Authority of India), Agmark, and legal Methodology.

Cargill has operated its edible oils business in India since 2001. It processes, refines, and markets a wide range of indigenous and imported edible oils and fats, catering to the food industry as well as household consumers. Cargill offers a host of leading edible oils and fats brands, such as NatureFresh, Gemini, Sweekar, Leonardo, Rath, and Sunflower, that cater to over 100 million consumers across the country.