ACC has will be putting a stronger focus on product innovation to strengthen its ready -mix concrete business. The 77-year-old company has lined up a series of ready-mix concrete (RMC) products to push sales. Right from an Italian marble lookalike, Imprintcrete, to Permecrete, the Holcim-owned company, ACC, is betting on the affluent and demanding lifestyle of its next generation customers to push its environment-friendly products in the market. If used in open spaces like car parks or garden pathways, Permecrete can allow rainwater to seep through and help recharge the groundwater table.
Targeting the retail segment, ACC has launched Bucketcrete, which contains 30 kgs of concrete in a bucket for Rs 250. The content, enough to lay out over four square feet, needs to be used within six hours. The self-curing Bucketcrete is made to order and delivered a day in advance to the dealers. The use of RMC has long been restricted to big builders as it is traditionally sold in truck loads; contractors doing small civil repair works have to depend on the manual mix of cement, sand, stone and water by the mason. The company hopes to change the situation with the introduction of Bucketcrete. Anil K Banchhor, Chief Executive Officer, ACC Concrete, said a market study to ascertain the pain points of small civil contractors and customers, led to the launch of Bucketcrete, which can be transported like any other consumer product.