London Dairy in India: Building a Premium Ice Cream Category from the Top of the Price Ladder
Industry & Competitive Context
In 2012, Business Standard put India’s branded ice cream market at about Rs 1,500 crore, against roughly Rs 13,000 crore for carbonated drinks and Rs 4,500 crore for chocolates and confectionery. The article cited this gap as evidence of room for growth. It also named Amul as market leader with an estimated 25% share and noted that Amul, Kwality Wall’s and Häagen-Dazs were opening parlours to expand their footprint.
By 2016, exchange4media reported that Nielsen did not track the category. Industry estimates put it at Rs 3,000–3,500 crore, growing at 15–20% a year, with an organised segment of about Rs 2,500 crore. Premium ice cream was estimated at about 6% of the branded segment. A later PTI-sourced report (publication date not shown on the retrieved copy) described a Rs 4,500 crore frozen desserts category growing at 15–20% annually. It listed Cold Stone Creamery, Häagen-Dazs and Mövenpick as London Dairy’s international premium competitors, and said the global share of premium ice cream was about 5%.
These figures come from different years, from unnamed “industry estimates”, and from differing category definitions (branded ice cream, organised ice cream, frozen desserts). They should not be combined into a single trend line, and no verified public information is available on a reconciled market size for premium ice cream in India.
Competitive intensity at the mass end is documented. In 2016, Vadilal and Havmor ran high-profile campaigns, and Hindustan Unilever’s Magnum reportedly cut its price from Rs 90 to Rs 75 amid competition from Amul’s premium range, Epic, priced at Rs 40. Regulation also shaped the entry environment. London Dairy’s head of marketing said the category slowed in the preceding year and a half because FSSAI rules on ingredient listing, customised packaging and labelling for international brands took time to comply with.
Brand Situation Prior to the First Media Campaign
London Dairy is a licensed brand. In 2012, exchange4media described it as an IFFCO brand manufactured under licence from London Dairy (UK). Business Standard reported that the Indian product was imported from the company’s manufacturing unit in the UAE. A later PTI-sourced report said the products were imported from the UAE-based International Foodstuffs Company. One DNA India excerpt describes imports from the UK, so sources differ on country of origin, though the more detailed and more recent reports point to the UAE.
On distribution, a 2012 article said the company had taken over distribution “over the last year” without naming the distributor. Allana Consumer Products’ CEO later said Allana began importing and distributing London Dairy in 2011.
Before its first media push, the brand was present in 11 cities (including Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Cochin, Pune and Kolkata) and in close to 1,000 outlets. These were a mix of modern trade and select “class A” outlets. Its media agency, OMD, was appointed in June 2012. This was reported as the first time the marketer had worked with an agency in India, and the brand had not yet appointed an Indian creative agency.
Strategic Objective
The documented objective is category creation. In 2016, the head of marketing described the task as upgrading consumers from price points she said were about one-quarter of London Dairy’s, and she cautioned that such an upgrade would not happen overnight. The only quantified targets in the public record are the company’s own. As reported by PTI, it aimed to reach Rs 100 crore in India revenue by 2020 and 5,000 outlets, citing about 36% year-on-year growth, from a base of about Rs 40 crore and 2,000 outlets at the time. That report says the revenues would “double”, which does not reconcile arithmetically with a Rs 40 crore base. Treat the figures as the company’s statements rather than audited data.
Campaign Architecture & Execution
The public record documents a sequence of initiatives.
2012: first mass-media campaign. The campaign was based on a global creative from O&M, adjusted slightly for Indian television. The TV commercial moved from European fields where strawberries are picked to African fields where cocoa is sourced. Its stated claim was personal rather than a “best ingredients” boast: making something special, just for you. Media ran mostly on English general entertainment, music and movie channels such as Star World, Zee Café, HBO and VH1. Below-the-line work included sampling at the Indian Formula 1 event for VIP guests and branded kiosks at select high-profile sites such as an Inox cinema in Mumbai.
2016: #SummerIsComing. The brand launched the campaign with two teasers around the TV release of Game of Thrones. The marketing head said it was launched on digital and then amplified on TV. She described the target audience as SEC A, aged 25+, who are well-travelled, have discerning taste and will pay for a finer experience. A secondary audience of 19–24-year-olds was to be reached through the impulse range priced at Rs 125.
2023: #LiveTheIndulgence. Campaign India reported that the films were conceptualised by Schbang, with a protagonist travelling through different places on a spoonful of ice cream. Allana’s CEO described London Dairy as an experience that elevates the senses.
Other documented elements. Afaqs reported that Salt Brand Solutions won the brand’s social media mandate (undated). India Retailing reported on a brand design programme featuring 46 SKUs customised for India, a pack tagline about unwrapping and biting into indulgence, and retail elements designed to look exclusive and distinct from mass brands (undated). The same 46-SKU figure appears in the PTI-sourced report.
Positioning & Consumer Insight
The following is analysis based on the documented facts above, not a statement of the company’s internal reasoning.
The documented positioning has three layers. The first is provenance as a justification for price. The 2012 creative made quality tangible through ingredient geography rather than technical claims. When a product sells at roughly twice the price of the market leader’s equivalent tub, an origin story is one way to explain the gap. In 2012 a 500 ml London Dairy tub cost about Rs 250 and a litre about Rs 475, against roughly half that for the same quantity from Amul.
The second layer is a narrow, self-selecting audience. The stated target (SEC A, well-travelled, discerning) matches the 2012 channel choices of English-language entertainment channels, VIP sampling and cinema kiosks. Under this reading, the company chose to be seen by few people rather than by many.
The third layer is trial through lower-priced formats. The marketing head said that large-scale sampling was valuable in the early years but became tedious as the brand grew. By 2016 the company was relying on a Rs 125 impulse range to generate trial. The positioning therefore did not stay fixed. It began with provenance (2012) and moved to occasion and emotion by 2023 (“indulgence”). It also widened its price entry points over time.
Media & Channel Strategy
Media. The 2012 plan was TV on niche English channels, with about 30% of the marketing budget dedicated to sampling. The company reported about 8,000 samplings the previous year and a target of 70,000. In 2016, the marketing head said TV had been the lead medium when the brand launched about four and a half years earlier, but that at least 50% of media spend was now digital.
Distribution. In the early period the company focused on modern trade and select premium outlets, and the PTI-sourced report described direct distribution through branded freezers. It also said London Dairy did not plan company-owned cafés in India for the time being, though it had them internationally. It said it would consider cafés later, without a timeline. In 2023, Allana’s CEO said about 50–55% of volume came from gourmet stores, about 15% from e-commerce and the remainder from modern trade. It said online channels (e-commerce and quick commerce) were growing at about 15% in volume.
Range. By 2012 the brand’s “Healthy Lifestyle” range (yoghurt and lite) was also sold in India. In 2023 Allana said it planned to extend into health-conscious and vegan segments, had launched light ice creams, lower-fat yogurts and sorbets for lactose-intolerant consumers, and was working on the possibility of expansion into 100 new cities.
Business & Brand Outcomes
The documented outcomes are limited and mostly company-reported.
2012: Presence in 11 cities and close to 1,000 outlets, with plans for 15 cities.
PTI-sourced report (date not shown): About 2,000 outlets and revenue of about Rs 40 crore, with a target of Rs 100 crore and 5,000 outlets by 2020.
2023: A volume split of 50–55% from gourmet stores, 15% from e-commerce and the rest from modern trade. Impulse packs were reported growing at 35–40% for the brand and take-home packs at 15–20%. The brand was selling at about Rs 1,000 per litre. This compares with about Rs 475 per litre reported in 2012, though the two prices come from different sources and years and should not be read as like-for-like.
August 2026: An Allana executive said the brand was still manufactured out of Dubai, that exports would continue from the existing base for the next year or two, and that expansion into smaller Indian towns would be gradual. This contrasts with the earlier statements that the company expected to start manufacturing in India within about three years.
Strategic Implications
The following is analysis, not documented fact.
Premium category creation is a long-duration commitment. The brand’s own marketing head framed upgrading as gradual. The public record shows a decade-plus of sequential investment (sampling, TV, digital, impulse formats, quick commerce) rather than a single breakthrough campaign.
Premium positioning and distribution reach pull in different directions. Selling mostly through gourmet stores supports an exclusive image. In 2012, a rival alleged that premium players had limited ranges and erratic supply, and the company attributed this to space constraints, noting that larger outlets did not pose the same problem. Wider reach through quick commerce and impulse formats changes who encounters the brand.
Import dependence is a structural feature. The record shows a brand that has sold across India through imports from the UAE (for most or all of its documented history), under licence from the UK brand owner. How that affects landed cost, freshness or pricing flexibility is not documented in the public sources reviewed.
Messages followed channels. The shift from provenance-led TV (2012) to digital-first teasers (2016) to mood-based films (2023) tracks the media habits the company itself described.
Discussion Questions
The company defined its task as upgrading consumers from products at a quarter of its price. What does the documented evidence suggest about the limits of persuasion-led versus trial-led approaches to price-gap upgrading, and what additional evidence would you want before deciding?
The 2012 creative emphasised ingredient provenance and personal effort rather than product superiority. Evaluate this as a justification for a price roughly double the market leader’s. What are the risks of provenance-led claims for an imported, licensed brand?
Reported figures of market size across 2012, 2016 and the PTI-sourced report use different definitions. How should a strategist handle inconsistent public market data when sizing a premium segment?
By 2023, gourmet stores reportedly accounted for 50–55% of volume, with e-commerce at 15%. Assess the trade-offs between preserving exclusivity and pursuing quick-commerce scale, using only the documented evidence.
The company said it expected to manufacture in India within about three years, yet imports from Dubai were reported to continue in 2026. Discuss how localisation decisions relate to premium positioning, and identify what information you would need to judge the decision.
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