The newly appointed chief – who has served in multinationals like Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Nestle over a span of 20 years – is hoping to take Engro Foods a step forward and make it the largest business of its parent company Engro Corporation by the end of 2012.
The food’s arm has caught up with the stalwart fertiliser wing and is neck-and-neck revenue-wise, according to the third quarterly account of the conglomerate.
It’s been five years of stellar performance, Ahsan said while talking about the company’s revenue reaching Rs28 billion in 2010. “Engro Foods is already doing great; my focus will be to take it a step further,” he added.
Engro Foods has successfully grabbed 45% of the market share in ultra-high temperature goods particularly its packaged milk Olpers and continues to thrive in its dairy segment which Ahsan point out as its prime sector.
However, the local conglomerate’s subsidiary has been facing difficulties in building a distribution channel for the ice cream segment.
Revenue for the ice cream segment – that has 24% market share – grew by 64%, although it incurred a net loss of Rs285 million in the first nine months of 2011. The company’s bottom-line is in the negative zone due to the heavy distribution and marketing expenses that amounted to Rs2.6 billion from January to September this year.
Talking about heavy marketing and distribution expenses, the 42-year-old said these expenses reflect the company’s investments to build infrastructure and market