US-based ice cream maker Mini Melts ties up with Honeybee Amusements

Bangalore: Honeybee Amusements Pvt. Ltd said it will manufacture and sell Mini Melts ice cream in India and plans to open 1,200 outlets across the country by 2015.

add_main_imageThe Mini Melts brand is owned by US-based Mini Melts Inc. The ice cream, which comes in the form of popcorn-style pellets, claims to be the world’s coldest ice cream and has annual sales of more than $170 million. In India, the ice cream will be sold in over 10 flavours, priced at ₹ 40-85, Honeybee said in a statement.

Bangalore-based Honeybee Amusements, part of the OSR group that runs cinemas, film distribution companies and other businesses, is aiming to get a 12% share of the ₹ 2,000-2,500 crore branded ice cream market in India within three years, managing director Shoeab Salim said at a press conference. India’s ice cream market is dominated by Amul, owned by Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation and Hindustan Unilever Ltd’s Kwality Walls.NextMAds

Of the 1,200 outlets planned, 20% will be owned by Honeybee Amusements and the rest will be franchized, Salim said. A majority of the outlets will be kiosks, he added.

The family-run business will open 20 outlets in Bangalore on Wednesday and thereafter expand to the rest of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Gujarat and northern India over the next few months. It has invested $3 million in building a plant in India and will invest ₹ 5-13 crore over the next three years in opening the company-owned kiosks, Salim said.