Allana Consumer Products focuses on innovation and caters to the untapped needs of customers

The Allana Group is one of India's largest exporters of processed foods and agro commodities. With a rich heritage of 156 years, the Allana Group maintains high standards of quality in procurement, manufacturing, and distribution. Its product categories include frozen/chilled meat, processed/frozen fruit and vegetable products, coffee, spices, and cereals apart from a thriving consumer products business.

Allana Consumer Products is the Consumer Products Division of Allana Group and has been a prominent player in the domestic market with a strong R&D foundation, a core understanding of consumer needs, and emerging global trends. The Division, established in 2011 is a key player in oils and fats within the state of Maharashtra. The company’s bakery ingredients business in cake premixes is among the top 3 players in India. The multi-faced product portfolio of the division includes brands like London Dairy premium ice-creams, Pristine bakery ingredients, Sunny & Priya edible oils, and Allegro Olive Oil.

Sustainability efforts and manufacturing facilities

Allana Consumer Products has a world-class manufacturing facility at Khopoli (70 km away from Mumbai) for both edible oils and fats as well as bakery ingredients. Elaborating on the same, Milind Pingle, chief executive officer, Allana Consumer Products said, “The edible oils plant has a refining capacity of more than 2000 tonnes per day with multiple packing lines for a wide array of products. The plant also caters to specialized industrial oils and fats which are sold to several biscuit manufacturers, snacks industries, and other food companies.” It also manufactures and markets bakery fats that are used both by artisan bakers and industrial customers to manufacture puff, khari, biscuits, cookies, and more.

Talking about the sustainability efforts taken by the company, he said, “Allana Group invests in sustainability and our facilities take great care to reduce its carbon footprint, conserve energy, water, and the environment through principles of 3R – Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.”

Introducing Beyond Meat in India

Allana Consumer Products has launched Beyond Meat in India, the renowned plant-based meat brand in the USA. It is the sole distributor of Beyond Meat in India and with this latest offering, it now caters to the premium vegan market by bringing a world-class offering to the country.

Regarding the recent venture, Pingle said, “Allana Consumer Products imports and distributes Beyond Meat in India to cater to the emerging market of plant-based protein. This is based on our observation that consumers are becoming increasingly health-conscious and seeking other nutritional options than regular meat. They appreciate cleaner labels with healthier ingredients and ideally want all this without compromising on taste.” The major plant-based company’s products have received an enthusiastic response from consumers in India.

Providing modern innovative solutions in both B2B and B2C space

In the B2B space, Allana provides customized solutions to its customers which in turn help them provide a differentiated offering to their consumers. Pingle shared that the company’s range of Alfa and Pristine industrial oils and fats are used by the best FMCG, food, and non-food companies in India and Allana supplies many of them. “We are also proud suppliers to the leading donut and waffle manufacturers in the country,” he added.

Catering to the B2C space, Allana has an important play in edible oils across multiple oil types such as palmolein, sunflower, soybean, groundnut (Sunny filtered groundnut oil), and rice bran (Priya rice bran oil). “Our brands Sunny and Priya aspire to be in the top 3 brands in Maharashtra. We have also ventured into the Pure Olive Oil category to now cater to the non-culinary usage of Olive Oil in India,” remarked Pingle.

Understanding customer needs

According to Pingle, at Allana Consumer Products, consumer centricity is a way of life. The team is constantly scanning the markets for opportunities in product and packaging development that will add value to the consumers. Some of the innovations introduced are listed below-

Sunny’s 15L easy fill Jar - Introduced in the refined oil category, it comes with an attached tap that can be used to transfer oil in smaller containers without lifting the jar or tilting it.

1L easy-grip PET bottle for Sunny Soyabean and Groundnut Oil - Provides a better grip to consumers to pour the oil while cooking.

Smart nozzle for Allegro’s Extra Virgin Olive Oil - Comes in an attractive tinted glass bottle (ideal for extra virgin conditions) with a smart nozzle that helps in drizzling olive oil over pizzas, pasta, and salads.

With consumers becoming more digitally savvy, Allana has tweaked its sales and marketing to have a sharper focus on E-Commerce and Digital Marketing.

Maintaining an uncompromising approach toward excellence

Allana Consumer Products aims to grow through partnerships that include inculcating an indomitable drive, relentless determination, and a persistent delivery standard in key aspects of the business-like quality, supply chain, and customer service.

“We envision leaving an enduring mark of excellence on the global map by providing quality products and services that are analogous to our heritage. In line with this vision, Allana Consumer Products would like to become an innovative food company and a partner of choice for our customers,” concluded Pingle.