Vaishnavi Yadav
| 6 hours ago
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In today’s fast-evolving world of marketing, the role of the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) is more crucial than ever. In Adgully’s weekly column –CMO Unplugged– we bring you candid insights, expert advice and thought-provoking discussions directly from the heart of the industry. CMO Unplugged goes beyond the surface to uncover the real strategies, innovations and challenges that define successful marketing leadership today.
In conversation with Adgully,VPS Malik, CMO, VRS Foods Ltd, talks about Paras Dairy’s expansion into the cream cheese category with the launch of Galacia Cream Cheese, the growing opportunities in the HoReCa segment, and the company’s broader strategy to strengthen its presence across emerging food formats and markets. He also discusses the brand’s digital-first marketing approach, expanding distribution across Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets, the growing demand for protein-led dairy products, and the company’s priorities for driving growth across retail, institutional and export businesses.
VRS Foods Limited, the company behind Paras Dairy, is looking to strengthen its position in India’s evolving dairy market by expanding its value-added dairy portfolio and widening its presence across foodservice and consumer channels. The company, which has a ₹3,000-crore business with four manufacturing facilities in North India and one in Maharashtra, is also among the largest exporters of bulk ingredients.
The latest addition to its dairy portfolio is Galacia Cream Cheese, which marks an expansion of its cheese business into a category that the company believes is gaining traction alongside the growth of cafés, bakeries, QSRs and newer dessert formats. The launch follows the company’s entry into cheese around a <a href="https://bitcomme.com/9-remote-jobs-that-pay-at-least-80000-a-year-2/” title=”9 Remote Jobs That Pay at Least $80,000 a Year”>year ago with mozzarella and processed cheese.
“In dairy, we launched our cheese range around a year ago, which initially included only mozzarella and processed cheese. The launch of cream cheese will strengthen our HoReCa team by giving us a wider basket of dairy products. We currently have processed cheese, mozzarella cheese, paneer and butter, and now we will also have cream cheese,” Malik said.
Cream cheese opportunity grows with changing dessert preferences
According to Malik, the growing popularity of cheesecakes is creating a new opportunity for cream cheese in India. He points to the changing menus of bakeries and cake shops, where traditional offerings are increasingly being complemented by newer dessert formats.
“Cream cheese is an expanding category in India. Previously, bakeries and cake shops mainly offered variants such as pineapple cake, Black Forest and dark chocolate. What has started gaining popularity now is cheesecake,” he said.
“You will find two or three varieties of cheesecake on the menu of most bakeries, whether blueberry, raspberry or strawberry cheesecake. These are made from cream cheese. Cheesecake is a Western dessert, and it is increasingly becoming popular in India,” Malik added.
The company is looking to address this opportunity not only through the product but also through education and application-led marketing. Recent company communication around the launch has also highlighted applications such as cheesecakes, frostings, desserts, sandwiches, wraps, dips and spreads.
Digital marketing and chef engagement to drive awareness
As food discovery increasingly takes place through digital platforms, Paras Dairy is focusing on digital marketing while also building direct engagement with professional users.
“Our major focus is on digital marketing. Apart from digital marketing, we also plan to organise chef meets in different cities. We will invite chefs from a particular city, showcase our products and product range, and demonstrate their usage and the dishes that can be prepared with them. These are the two key pillars of our marketing strategy,” Malik said.
The company has also been using influencers to demonstrate product applications rather than simply communicating product attributes.
“During our campaigns, we have worked with influencers to showcase the quality of our products. The product itself is not always the focus. Instead, we showcase the dishes that can be prepared using our products,” he said.
“For example, influencers prepare dishes such as gajar ka halwa, other varieties of halwa or gulab jamun using our products and share the content on digital platforms,” Malik added.
E-commerce is another important part of the company’s marketing approach, with the brand using online platforms to highlight its products, schemes and consumer offers.
Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets emerge as key growth engines
Paras Dairy is also seeing significant potential beyond the metros as café, QSR and eating-out culture expands into smaller cities.
Malik points to the expansion of international QSR brands as an indication of how consumption habits are changing across India’s smaller markets.
“When Domino’s entered India in the early 1990s, it started with a limited number of outlets. Today, it has more than 2,000 outlets, and around 1,200 of these are in Tier 2, Tier 3 and Tier 4 towns,” he said.
“Whenever a premium outlet such as Domino’s or McDonald’s opens in a market, several local chains also emerge. Since we supply cheese to the HoReCa segment, particularly mozzarella, we have developed a distribution network that enables us to reach Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns,” Malik added.
Uttar Pradesh is one example of how the company is building its distribution model. According to Malik, a large distributor can manage an area through 10–12 sub-distributors, allowing the products to reach cafés and QSRs across smaller towns.
“Currently, we are present across North India, parts of Western India and major towns in South India. We have around 300 distributors at present, and we expect to increase this number to around 1,000 over the next two years,” he said.
The company’s recent cream cheese launch also targets professional foodservice customers, including bakeries, cafés, hotels, restaurants, cloud kitchens and QSRs.
Building a stronger consumer business
While institutional and bulk business remain significant contributors to VRS Foods, the company is also looking to expand its consumer-facing business.
“Around 70% of our business comes from bulk, institutions, ingredients and exports, while around 30% comes from the consumer business,” Malik said.
The consumer portfolio currently includes fresh dairy products such as milk, paneer and curd, along with desi ghee.
“Our target is to build a pan-India presence for cow ghee, which is our star performer, by expanding our distribution network and investing in marketing activities,” he said.
“Digital marketing and e-commerce platforms are the key channels we are focusing on,” Malik added.
Protein becomes another major opportunity
Alongside cheese and ghee, Paras Dairy is exploring the growing consumer interest in protein through new dairy formats.
“We are currently exploring variants within our fresh dairy portfolio, including high-protein milk, high-protein shakes and high-protein paneer,” Malik said.
The company is also increasing its paneer manufacturing capacity. It currently produces around 12 tonnes of paneer per day and is expanding this capacity, while also looking at another production location.
“We are also increasing the capacity of our paneer plant. We currently produce around 12 tonnes of paneer per day and are increasing this capacity. We are also planning to expand into another location,” he said.
Paras Dairy is also planning to relaunch UHT cream, which Malik said would help strengthen its presence in the HoReCa distribution segment.
Organised dairy benefits from changes in analogue paneer
Malik also believes recent developments around analogue paneer have benefited organised dairy companies.
“I believe the organised dairy sector has been very positive about the changes brought in by Mr Tukaram Munde. Small-time players producing analogue paneer using vegetable fat have been pushed out of the market,” he said.
For Paras Dairy, the change has translated into higher utilisation of its paneer capacity.
“We were earlier operating at around 50–60% of our paneer capacity, whereas we are now operating at 100% capacity, primarily because of this change. We are also expanding our capacity because of the increased demand,” Malik said.
He believes the development is also beneficial for consumers, particularly in terms of product quality.
“Earlier, when we went to hotels and restaurants, people in the industry often avoided paneer dishes because we knew that the quality and taste had changed in many places. The taste of paneer in restaurants had been different for quite some time. The current changes are a positive development,” he said.
Looking ahead at robust growth
With its presence across retail, institutional business, exports and ingredients, VRS Foods expects the year to remain favourable.
“The year has been very good for the dairy industry, particularly for us. Apart from retail, we are a strong player in the export market and in ingredients, particularly milk protein concentrate,” Malik said.
The growing focus on protein is also creating opportunities for the company in the ingredients business.
“With protein becoming a major focus for consumers, there is increasing demand for milk protein concentrate. There are only a few players in this segment, and we are one of them,” he said.
Despite higher milk prices, Malik believes the demand environment remains favourable.
“There has been significant demand for proteins, and prices have also increased, although milk prices have risen as well. Overall, the market conditions have been favourable for us, and I believe this year will be a year of robust growth for the company,” he concluded.
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exclusives19-Oct-2026VPS MalikCMOVRS Foods Ltdvaishnavi yadav
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