Heritage Foods has acquired a 51% stake in GetAWay Ice Cream & Desserts, known for its high-protein, no-added-sugar products, with plans to increase its stake to 71% by 2026. The move strengthens Heritage’s value-added portfolio, combining its dairy expertise with GetAWay’s innovation in nutrition-led indulgence.
Heritage Foods Ltd., one of India’s most trusted names in the dairy industry for over three decades, has taken a decisive step to deepen its presence in the value-added consumer products segment by acquiring a 51% majority stake in GetAWay Ice Cream & Desserts — a young but fast-rising brand that has redefined the frozen treats category with its ‘guilt-free indulgence’ promise. The deal also includes a forward-looking agreement that will allow Heritage Foods to increase its stake to 71% by March 2026, signalling not just an investment, but a long-term strategic commitment to shaping the future of nutrition-led snacking in India.
This acquisition aligns closely with Heritage’s broader strategy of moving beyond being just a traditional dairy player and becoming a strong force in higher-margin, innovation-led consumer categories. In recent months, the company has demonstrated clear intent in this direction — most notably through its ₹230-crore investment in a state-of-the-art greenfield ice-cream manufacturing facility, which is designed to support large-scale innovation, faster product development and nationwide expansion. Ice cream, Heritage Foods has indicated repeatedly, is not just another category add-on — it is a central growth pillar, with both scale potential and brand affinity power.
In that context, GetAWay arrives as a well-timed and culturally relevant bet. Founded with the single-minded purpose of offering indulgent desserts that do not compromise on health standards, GetAWay is the only ice-cream brand in India that is built entirely on a high-protein formulation while simultaneously maintaining a zero-added-sugar policy across its portfolio. Unlike many new-age FMCG start-ups that rely on vague ‘healthy’ claims, GetAWay has anchored itself in evidence-backed nutritional positioning — answering to the increasingly label-aware, fitness-inclined, and lifestyle-focused Indian consumer.
What makes the brand’s differentiation even more compelling is its demonstrated consumer love — not just curiosity. The company has achieved exceptional repeat purchase rates: over 35% on quick-commerce platforms such as Blinkit and Swiggy Instamart, and as high as 45% in the foodservice space, where menu-level stickiness is difficult to achieve. In a category where novelty often drives the first transaction, GetAWay is one of the few brands that have managed to build genuine retention — a far more reliable indicator of product trust and habit formation. For Heritage Foods, this translates into a brand with both strong fundamentals and a future-facing cultural energy.
The synergy between the two companies is striking in its complementarity. On one hand, Heritage brings deep expertise in dairy procurement, processing and quality control — capabilities that take decades to build. It also has one of the most efficient and wide-reaching cold-chain distribution networks in India, as well as strong credibility among families and retailers, particularly across Southern India. On the other hand, GetAWay brings the agility of a modern direct-to-consumer brand — with strong digital instincts, product innovation velocity, and a sharp understanding of emerging customer motivations shaped by lifestyle, wellness, sustainability and identity.
Together, the collaboration positions Heritage not merely to compete in the traditional ice-cream wars against legacy brands, but to lead the new-age evolution of the segment, where indulgence is expected to be functional as well as delicious. For GetAWay, the partnership fast-tracks what is often the biggest barrier for challenger brands — scaling profitably without losing their innovation DNA or having to compromise their brand promise.
India’s evolving consumption economy provides the ideal backdrop for this move. Over the last five years, there has been an explosive rise in nutritional literacy among the upwardly mobile consumer, who is now actively avoiding high-sugar, high-preservative products and seeking clean-label alternatives. This shift has already transformed categories such as beverages, snacking, bakery and breakfast foods — and ice cream is now at the cusp of this transformation. In the past, consumers accepted ice cream as a purely indulgent cheat food. Today, increasingly, they want indulgence with intention: flavour without guilt, pleasure with performance — the promise that brands like GetAWay have captured.
What Heritage Foods seems to be envisioning is a future where ice cream is no longer merely a dessert but a nutritionally upgraded lifestyle product — capable of being positioned even as a post-workout protein treat or a mindful mid-day snack. With global wellness macro-trends entering India at accelerated speed — from high-protein diets to keto, low-carb living to sugar detoxing — the Indian market is ready for a sophisticated reimagination of frozen desserts. This acquisition positions Heritage at the forefront of that cultural shift.
Importantly, this move also allows Heritage to evolve its brand perception among younger consumers. While trusted by millions, the brand has traditionally been seen as a legacy name associated with daily household staples. Through GetAWay’s entry into its portfolio, Heritage injects youthfulness, aspiration and modern pop-culture relevance — all while staying in the comfort zone of dairy science and supply-chain mastery. It mirrors what global food giants have successfully done: acquire or partner with innovation-first brands to stay ahead of the cultural curve rather than chase it.
For consumers, this collaboration is likely to lead to faster retail availability of GetAWay products across more cities, potential category extensions and exciting innovation cycles at scale — ones that balance functional nutrition with gourmet experience. In the long term, it could redefine how ice cream is positioned, consumed and even marketed in India — shifting it from seasonal impulse consumption to a more integrated lifestyle product.
Heritage Foods’ acquisition of a 51% stake in GetAWay is not just a portfolio expansion; it is a strategic culture play — an investment into the future of food as India starts to prioritise nourishment as much as pleasure. It demonstrates foresight in anticipating where the next decade of dairy-led consumption is heading: towards clean, purpose-driven, performance-oriented indulgence. And with its plans to raise its stake further to 71% by 2026, Heritage has signalled that this is not a test experiment, but a long-term bet on reshaping the narrative of ice cream in India.
