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Tata Chemicals unveils branded salt
in West Asia
Business Standard —
June 24, 2005
Tata Chemicals Ltd has become the first Indian company to
launch its salt brand in West Asia, under the brand name Topp
Salt, a senior company official told Crisil MarketWire. While
the company hopes to garner 30 percent market share in West
Asia, it is also launching the same brand in Southeast Asia,
he said. "We sent our first shipment to Dubai three weeks
ago. The response has been very encouraging, and we have already
got a repeat order," said Satish Sohoni, chief operating
officer, food additives business, Tata Chemicals.
"We have started with Dubai and will move on to Abu
Dhabi and Sharjah to cover the entire United Arab Emirates.
Then we plan a rollout in Oman, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia,"
he said. Sohoni was speakingon the sidelines of an investor
conference late Wednesday. The West Asia foray will be through
Tata (UAE) FZE, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata International.
The total retail market for salt in West Asia is estimated
at 120,000-130,000 tonne. "We are aiming to capture 30
percent market share within 18-24 months," Sohoni said.
At a retail price of 1.5 dirhams per kg of salt, the total
market size works out to Rs 210-230 crore.
Tata Chemicals has also identified Southeast Asia as a potential
growth area, Sohoni said. "We have already got formal
approval from the Singapore authorities and the first shipment
will leave within four weeks," he said. After this we
are looking at Malaysia, as well as Indonesia, although that
market may be too big to service through exports alone, he
said. Tata Salt is the largest selling salt brand in India,
with an estimated 40 per cent market share.
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