Pluto ? a premium Italian Gelato Ice Cream Manufacturer ? has expanded its presence in the Thai ice cream market by investing more than 26 million baht in its new factory in Phuket City.

Giovanni Durante, Managing Director of Pluto Ice Cream is hoping that the factory?s convenient location and ability to make up to 400 kg of ice cream a day will be able to penetrate its target group of hotels and restaurants in Phuket, Khaolak, Phi Phi, and Samui.

?It was obvious in our opinion that all our ingredients be of the highest quality. We use Italian ingredients from the most reputable Italian brands and - under the supervision of master Italian ice-cream experts - we arranged recipes to enable our ice-creams to become acknowledged as the best quality ones produced in Thailand.?

Mr Durante added, ?We have more than 60 flavours (including Gin and Tonic) and experiment with new flavours every day so that we fulfill every customer?s requirements.?

The company has invested more than 26 million baht to build the factory that stands on 196 square wah on Sakdidet road.

Mr Giovanni said that after Pluto moved its production lab to Phuket city in 2005, the company also adjusted its marketing strategy to become its own wholesaler and started to distribute to its two main target groups; first-class hotels and Italian restaurants in Phuket. Now ice cream lovers tastes may be satiated in Phang-Nga, Krabi, Surat Thani and Bangkok. More than 70% of the companies total revenue comes from the hotel market and more than 80% of its customers are foreign.

?We foresee the need for a huge volume of ice cream in this market, especially in a tourist city like Phuket, which has a continuous growth of demand. With our strong point of sales we are confident that Pluto will be ranked on the top level for the Italian ice cream market in the near future,? said Mr Durante.
?We also have plans to extend our range of products by introducing semi-freddos (frozen mousse) mono-portions (individual size) and ice cream cakes and to recruit new specialised personnel to improve the services offered to our customers.?

Mr Durante hopes that by doing this and investing more capital in expanding operations, up to one million baht in sales can be made per day by the end of the year.