New Delhi, India, December 18, 2009
—IFC, a member of the Word Bank Group, will provide $5 million in equity to cold chain logistics service provider Snowman Frozen Foods Limited to expand efficient storage facilities across India, helping reduce wastage and losses and cut costs.
IFC’s investment will support Snowman’s capital needs during the company’s strategic growth phase, helping it become more efficient and expand in existing and new locations in India. Snowman’s temperature-controlled storage infrastructure is currently spread across 16 facilities in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Ludhiana, and Vishakapatnam. The company operates about 75 owned and contracted refrigerated trucks in its transportation division.
Snowman provides cold chain services for a variety of products including, processed foods and pulps, sea foods, meats, ice creams, and dairy products. The project will help reduce wastage of food products, strengthen local supply chains, and improve the company’s environmental and social practices.
“With IFC as a partner, we will continue to seek the highest standards in our operations, and these efforts will support the cold chain sector,” said Gopinath Pillai, Chairman, Snowman Frozen Foods.
Demographic factors such as an increase in disposable incomes, the advent of double-income nuclear families, aspirations for convenience, and increasing urbanization and quality consciousness are driving the need to establish efficient and integrated temperature controlled logistics services in India. Quality cold chain service providers are not abundant, leading to wastage of perishable food products.
“Snowman is one of the few integrated service providers engaged in developing a pan-India network,” said Anita George, IFC Infrastructure Director for South Asia, East Asia, and Middle East and North Africa. “Successful scaling up of the business will create further efficiencies in infrastructure development in this sector. We are excited to help a highly regarded company like Snowman expand and further serve the local market.”
IFC is the only international financial institution focused exclusively on the private sector, the engine of sustainable development in emerging markets. Along with IBRD, it is currently seeking a capital increase to strengthen its ability to create opportunity for the poor in developing countries—including by helping firms like Snowman modernize their facilities.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, creates opportunity for people to escape poverty and improve their lives. We foster sustainable economic growth in developing countries by supporting private sector development, mobilizing private capital, and providing advisory and risk mitigation services to businesses and governments. Our new investments totaled $14.5 billion in fiscal 2009, helping channel capital into developing countries during the financial crisis. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
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About Snowman Frozen Foods Ltd
Headquartered in Bangalore, Snowman began operations in 1997. The company offers end-to-end high-quality integrated logistics management services, including primary transportation, storage, inventory management, documentation, and distribution of frozen and chilled foods. With a capacity of over 10,000 pallets across the country, Snowman reaches over 100 cities and 4,400 retail outlets in India.
