HYDERABAD: Freedom refined sunflower oil, the flagship brand of Gemini Edibles & Fats India Ltd (GEF India), is planning big for Telangana. It intends to establish an edible oil manufacturing unit in Telangana with an investment of up to `500 crore.
The proposal though is at its initial stage. the company aims to manufacture 1,000 metric tonnes of oil per day from this unit. Pradeep Chowdhry, Managing Director of GEF India said, “The company is looking at strategic expansion and in the next few years. We intend to launch in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, which have high volumes of sunflower oil consumption.
We would also expand our presence to the northern and eastern states of India, such as Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Uttar Prade sh, and We s t Bengal.” Freedom Oil is the market leader in the sunflower oil category and its leadership position and high penetration of products have been possible due to its extensive distribution network.
GEF India also has a state-of-the-art facility in Kakinada (two units) and Krishnapatnam, Nellore with a combined capacity of 2,615 MT per day. The facility has equipment from Desmet Ballestra (Belgium). The unit in Krishnapatnam is FSSC 22000 certified and is in the process to obtain the same for the third refinery at Kakinada.
The company is also focusing actively on packaging ensuring both the design and the quality are user-friendly for the consumers. GEF India was ranked Number 1 in volume of sales in the sunflower oil segment in India by Nielsen IQ for the year ending March 31, 2022, the company said. It achieved the feat despite having presence only in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Odisha. The Freedom brand was first launched in 2010 in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.