United Breweries records 10% increase in Q1 profit to Rs 162 cr

Beer Cafe, which is run by BTB Marketing, has crossed the Rs. 100-crore sales mark during FY19, posting a 12% increase in revenues about seven years after it launched its first outlet.

The brand’s per store gross sales of Rs 3 crore on an average was at par with Starbucks and significantly higher than other quick service restaurant startups like Chaayos. As of March 2019, Beer Café was having nearly 36 outlets.

Rahul Singh, Founder of BTB Marketing, which posted a net loss of Rs 19 crore during the year, said, “Most brands in the sector prefer to remain regional but we were determined to be ubiquitous. We are already in 16 cities now in a sector that is highly regulated and complex.”

Beer Cafe’s per square feet revenue at Rs 19,000 is higher than most restaurants, helping them make a profit at store level despite high taxes and regulations in the sector.

Beer Cafe was the first company in the beer quick service restaurant space, which also saw marquee tea and coffee brands, Chaayos and Starbucks, foray into the same year in 2012.

Taxation on Beer

In India, the alcoholic-beverage industry, including beer, is heavily regulated, with excise and other taxes forming an important source of revenue for state governments. Due to this, it is difficult for most companies and retailers to register higher profits.

The beer attracts the highest taxation of any beverage in the country, with only 5% alcohol in beer on average. Furthermore, beer retails from as low as Rs 36 for a Kingfisher beer bottle in Goa to Rs 115 in Madhya Pradesh, indicating how there is a huge price disparity for the same brand.

“With equity infusion of just Rs 84 crore till now, we have done gross revenue of over Rs 500 crore since we started. The burn has come down significantly and the leverage is kicking in,” Singh stated.

Indian Beer Market

As per the report, India Beer Market Overview, 2018-2023, The Indian Alcoholic beverages market observed the highest market share of Whisky which is followed by brandy & beer. Indian Beer market has a market share of 17%, being third in the Indian alcohol beverages market.

The rise in disposable income of the Indian population has somewhere led the consumers to shift from standard beers to premium and craft beers. The population is turning more brand conscious, offering numerous business opportunities to entrepreneurs.

The beer consumption in India, in volume terms, is less than 1.5% of global beer volumes, while spirits consumption is as much as 12%. Also, the country’s per capita beer consumption at around 2 litres per annum remains materially below other markets.

Rebel Foods, which owns and operates multi-brand cloud kitchen brands, has over doubled its topline in the financial year 2018-19, however, its losses widen, as the Mumbai-based company continues to focus on expanding its reach and broadens its offering.

The company reported a net loss of Rs 130.64 crore for the year ended March 31, 2019, up from a net loss of Rs 74.44 crore in fiscal 2018. Rebel Foods owns and operates an estimated 2,100 internet restaurants and 275 cloud kitchens spread across three countries

Rebel Foods’ other expenses, including marketing and promotional spends, among other items, increased 147% to Rs 191.81 crore, as it started expanding at a rapid pace across South-East Asia and the Middle-East, particularly in Indonesia and Dubai.

Rebel Foods looked to invest $30-$40 million in infrastructure, expansion and automation. It also focused on doubling down its nine in-house brands, including Faasos, Behrouz Biriyani, Oven Story, Firangi Bake and Mandarin Oak, among others.

The company is competing with the likes of Naspers-backed Swiggy and Zomato, both of which also operate their own cloud kitchen infrastructure.

Pernod Ricard, the maker of Absolut vodka and Chivas Regal scotch, has reported a 27% jump in its India revenues in FY18-19, highlighting the strong demand for its premium brands on a favourable base.

However, the French liquor firm's profit growth at 6% slowed down significantly due to increased taxation and one-upmanship with its largest rival Diageo.

In the year-to-March 2019, the world's second largest distiller had gross sales of 20,335 crore. The company’s growth numbers surpassed Diageo's Indian business, which rose 10% in revenues at 28,512 during the same period.

Pernod’s net profit at 1,303 crore was nearly double that of its larger rival United Spirits (659 crore) during the year. USL has more than 100 brands in its portfolio like Bagpiper and DSP Black and the top 15 brands contribute over 80% to its sales, led by McDowell and Celebration.

Biryani By Kilo (BBK) is planning to double its revenue by next year.

The brand aims to achieve this target by exporting the famous ‘handi’ biryani to the United Arab Emirates and the UK. It will also experiment with healthier variants like quinoa biryani and brown rice Biryani.

Vishal Jindal, Co-Founder & Director, Biryani By Kilo, said, “We are opening three outlets every month and are looking to expand our presence to 40-50 outlets in north India by next April-May. We are also getting massive franchise inquiries from the UAE and UK, so next year we will go international and hope to hit the Rs 100 crore.”

Starting with two outlets in 2015, BBK has now grown to about 25 outlets in 2019. At present, the biryani chain has 14 outlets in Delhi-NCR, five in Bombay, three in Punjab, one in Jaipur and one each opening in Lucknow and Dehradun next month.

In June, BBK had raised Series A funding of $5 million led by IvyCap Ventures. It will be doing a Series B round next year to take the company on its journey from Rs 100 crore upwards.

BBK is constantly innovating around the product too.

“We make three variants all the time, Hyderabadi, Lucknowi, and Kolkata biryani. But we have also done Malabar and Ambur biryani for a short time. So this means that the kind of experimentation and innovation we are doing, not many companies are doing,” Jindal stated.

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Zomato, an online food delivery and restaurant discovery platform, has posted over a three-fold jump in its revenue at $205 million for the first half of the financial year 2019-20. The restaurant aggregator had earned $63 million in the first six months of the financial year 2018-19.

Foodtech unicorn has also reduced its burn rate by about 40% in the first six months of the current financial year. It clocked 214 million orders worth $821 million during the period ending in September 2019.

Zomato was co-founded by Deepinder Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah in 2008.

The company’s orders jumped by 290% to 214 million during the first half of FY20 as compared to 55 million in the first half of FY19. The gross merchandise volume of these orders spiked 223% to $821 million from $254 million in the year-ago period.

Zomato said, “We achieved tremendous results in optimising our costs, without affecting new product launches or innovation. Our order volumes in top 15 cities have doubled in the last 12 months; while the remaining cities already contribute 35 per cent to our order volumes.”

Zomato’s active gold members have grown by 180%. Its monthly active restaurants have increased by 177% in H1FY20.

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Varun Beverages Limited (VBL), one of the largest franchisee of PepsiCo worldwide, has reported a growth in its revenue from operations of 36.5% year-on-year to Rs 2,810 crore in the second quarter of 2019 (April to June).

The company’s profit after tax rose by 32% to Rs 405 crore in Q2 2019 from Rs 307 crore in Q2 2018, while its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 37% to Rs 788 crore from Rs 575 crore.

VBL’s total sales volumes saw a jump of 43.3% year-on-year at 195.5 million cases in Q2 CY19 as compared to 136.4 million unit cases in Q2 CY18.

Ravi Jaipuria, Chairman of Varun Beverages, said, "We have made rapid progress with the consolidation of the recently acquired territories in south and west regions, and also those acquired last year. This demonstrates our strong execution capabilities, efficiency of our operations and operating leverage."

Varun Beverages produces and distributes a wide range of carbonated soft drinks and a large selection of non-carbonated beverages like packaged drinking water sold under trademarks owned by PepsiCo.

Jubilant FoodWorks Limited (JFL) has reported its financial results for the quarter ended 30th June 2019. Operating Revenues for Q1 FY20 stood at Rs 9401 million, a growth of 9.9% over Q1FY19.

This was driven by Same-Store Sales Growth (SSG) of 4.1% in Domino's Pizza, on a strong base of 25.9% last year. Like for Like Sales growth i.e. sales growth of stores that were not split since 1st April 2018 came in higher at 5.8%.

EBITDA for Q1 FY20 stood at Rs 2191 million, at 23.3% of revenue. Q1 saw a significant increase in advertising and promotional spends as also continued investments in technology.

Profit after tax in Q1 FY20 came in at Rs 748 million, at 8.0% of revenue.

There were 26 new Domino’s stores opened during the quarter, taking the total store count up to 1,249 across 276 cities.

Shyam S Bhartia, Chairman, and Hari S Bhartia, Co-Chairman, Jubilant FoodWorks Limited, said, “We have started the year on an encouraging note. Domino’s has been a very strong brand franchise and our strategic focus remains on brand building and innovation through high-quality products, continued value for money, improved customer experience, and an omnipresent network. Our recent launch in Bangladesh and our entry in Chinese food category through ‘Hong’s Kitchen’ have received an overwhelming response from our customers and should be long term growth drivers in the future.”

Pratik Pota, CEO and Whole time Director, Jubilant FoodWorks Limited, added, “We are pleased with the first quarter’s performance. Lapping one of our highest quarters ever from last year, we delivered near double-digit growth and strong EBITDA margins. Online sales continued to be strong and now contribute to 81% of delivery sales. Our mobile app saw record downloads during the quarter. We are excited by the opportunities that lie ahead and are confident that we have the right strategy to drive sustainable growth and create value.”

Parag Milk Foods is aiming a revenue of up to Rs 160 crore this financial year on better demand for its products in the northern market. The Mumbai-based company earned a revenue of about Rs 70 crore last fiscal from its manufacturing facility in Sonipat, Haryana, which it acquired from Danone.

In April 2018, Parag Milk acquired Sonepat plant and started commercial operations in August for expanding its footprint in the north and northeast India. The company at present has three plants in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Haryana with a total processing capacity of 2.9 million litres per day. 

Devendra Shah, Chairman of Parag Milk Foods, said, "Our Sonipat plant is doing very well. It contributed Rs 65-70 crore to our total turnover during the last fiscal. We are targeting a revenue of Rs 130-160 crore during the current financial year."

During 2018-19 fiscal, Parag Milk reported a 22.6% rise in its consolidated revenue from operations to Rs 2,395.7 crore.

"We are currently processing about 60,000 litres per day of milk in the Sonipat plant which is being sourced from Maharashtra, Haryana and Rajasthan. The company expected to reach 100 per cent capacity utilisation of over 1 lakh litre per day in the next financial year," Shah added.

Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), marketing dairy products under the Amul brand, is eyeing 20% increase in its revenue to Rs 40,000 crore this fiscal, helped by growth in volume and value terms.

The dairy firm reported a 13% rise in its turnover at Rs 33,150 crore during 2018-19 as compared to Rs 29,225 crore in the previous fiscal.

RS Sodhi, Managing Director, Amul, said, “In the last financial year, our revenue growth was because of higher volume and there was no price increase across our product portfolio. But, in this year, we are expecting growth in both volume and value terms. We are expecting 20 percent growth in turnover during 2019-20.”

“The milk procurement prices have gone up in the last few months in states like Maharashtra. We were paying our farmers higher prices when milk procurement prices declined in many states. So there will be no impact on us,” he added.

GCMMF had recently announced that the provisional unduplicated group revenue of Amul Federation and its 18 member unions crossed Rs 45,000 crore in 2018-19, up 13% from the previous year.

Varun Beverages Limited (VBL), one of the largest franchisee of PepsiCo worldwide, has reported 24% increase in its revenue from operations to Rs 1,359 crore in the first quarter of 2019 (January to March). The company posted a revenue of Rs 1,095 crore in the year-on period.

VBL’s total sales volumes are up 12.3% at 9.03 crore unit cases in Q1 2019 in comparison with 8.04 crore unit cases in Q1 2018. Its EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) grew by 26.5% to Rs 218.4 crore from Rs 172.7 crore.

Ravi Jaipuria, Chairman of Varun Beverages Limited, said, "We have concluded the acquisition of franchise rights in south and west regions from PepsiCo for a national bottling, sales and distribution footprint in seven states and five union territories."

"This consolidates our dominant position as a key player in the beverage industry. VBL now accounts for more than 80 per cent PepsiCo India's beverage sales volumes in India from 51 per cent earlier, and has expanded its presence to 27 states and seven union territories across India," he added.

Zomato, the food delivery and restaurant discovery company, has posted a three-fold jump in revenue to $206 million for the year ended March, driven primarily by its core food delivery business. The company had posted $68 million revenue in FY18.

The Gurgaon-based company's current annual revenue run rate is $350 million. However, it has incurred a huge cost of $500 million in FY19, up from $80 million in FY18.

Deepinder Goyal, Founder & CEO, Zomato, said, “In March 2018, when we were planning for FY19, we set an audacious goal of $180 million and most of us thought that this was near impossible, but the team worked backwards from there and comfortably beat the goal.”

“We now lose Rs 25 per delivery, compared to Rs 44 per delivery in March 2018. Our last mile cost per delivery is now Rs 65, compared to Rs 86 in March 2018. The key driver metric of unit economics, the number of deliveries per rider per hour, has gone up to 1.4 from 0.9 last year,” he added.

Varun Beverages Limited (VBL), one of the largest franchisee of PepsiCo in the world, has reported its revenue from operations of Rs 804 crore during October to December 2018. In the same quarter of the previous year, the company had earned a revenue of Rs 543 crore.

Varun Beverages' Q3FY19 total expenses also moved up to Rs 904 crore against Rs 661 crore in the same period. The company's net loss was Rs 70.8 crore against a loss of Rs 72.8 crore in the same quarter last year.

Varun Beverages is producing and distributing a wide range of carbonated soft drinks (CSDs) and a large selection of non-carbonated beverages (NCBs) as well as packaged drinking water sold under trademarks owned by PepsiCo.

VBL produces and sells PepsiCo CSD brands like Pepsi Diet, Pepsi Seven-Up, Mirinda Orange, Mirinda Lemon, Mountain Dew, Seven-Up Nimbooz Masala Soda, Sting and Evervess. The company is also selling and producing PepsiCo NCB brands such as Tropicana Slice, Tropicana Frutz, Tropicana Juices, Nimbooz and packaged drinking water under the brand Aquafina.

The owner of fast food chains KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, Yum! Brands Inc has posted a strong double-digit sales growth in revenues in India in the fourth quarter ending December and in the full year of 2018.

KFC India posted a 20% system sales growth in 2018 while recording a 17% system sales growth in the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2018.

Samir Menon, Managing Director, KFC India, said, "The quarter ending December, marked the ninth consecutive quarter of positive system sales growth, with a 17 per cent system sales growth for India and area countries."

"The year gone by has been significant for KFC India with major developments on the brand and business front. Making KFC more accessible to consumers was a prime objective through the year- we kept our focus on everyday value, delivery and expanding our physical footprint across the country with new restaurants. We are confident of riding this positive momentum into 2019 and will continue to strengthen the brand through operational excellence and distinctive communication," he added.

Pizza Hut reported a system sales growth of 14% in the fourth quarter. The pizza chain has been consistently posting double-digit growth.

क्विक सर्विस रेस्टोरेंट (QSR) स्टार्ट-अप बर्गर सिंह का उद्देश्य इस वित्तीय वर्ष में 30 करोड़ के मेट रेवेन्यू को पाना है। कंपनी वित्तीय वर्ष 2020 तक इसे 72 करोड़ तक करना चाहती है।

बर्गर सिंह के सीईओ और फाउंडर कबीर जीत सिंह ने कहा, 'इस वित्तीय वर्ष में हमारा ब्रेक-ईवन तोड़ने का उद्देश्य है।'

उन्होंने कहा, 'अभी तक का ज्यादातर बिजनेस वर्ड ऑफ माउथ के माध्यम से ही आया है, कंपनी अपने विज्ञापन और मार्केटिंग में रेवेन्यू का सिर्फ दस प्रतिशत ही खर्च करती है। हम विज्ञापन करने के लिए टीवी का इस्तेमाल नहीं करते क्योंकि इसके माध्यम की ज्यादा पहुंच है और इस समय ये हमारे बिल में फिट भी नहीं होता क्योंकि हम कुछ ही मार्केट में मौजूद हैं। फिलहाल हम सोशल मीडिया इस्तेमाल करने के अलावा ऑनलाइन विज्ञापन करते हैं और अपने सूचना पत्र बांटते हैं।'

बर्गर सिंह वित्तीय वर्ष 2020 तक अपने 30 स्टोर्स खोलने के बारे में योजना बना रहा है। इसके बाद स्टोर्स की सुल संख्या 57 हो जाएगी। कंपनी का टारगेट एक महीने में दो आउटलेट खोलने का है।

कबीर जीत सिंह ने आगे कहा, 'अगले 13-14 महीनों के अंदर ही हर किसी तक बर्गर सिंह की पहुंच होगी।'

ये QSR फर्म 45-50 करोड़ रुपए की रेंज में नए फंड बढ़ाने की योजना में लगी है।

उन्होंने कहा, 'हम एक रणनीतिक इंवेस्टर की तलाश कर रहे हैं, जो पैसे से ज्यादा कुछ लेकर आए। हम ऐसे इंवेस्टर्स की तलाश में हैं जो हमें एक सफल कंपनी बनाने के लिए अपना दस साल का समय दे सके।'

Burger Singh, quick service restaurant (QSR) start-up, is aiming a net revenue of Rs 30 crore in FY19. The company is also eyeing a revenue target of Rs 72 crore by the end of FY20.

Kabir Jeet Singh, CEO and Founder, Burger Singh, said, "We aim to break-even in this fiscal."

"Much of the business so far has come through word-of-mouth, with the company spending just 10% of its revenue on advertising and marketing. We don't use the TV for advertising, as the medium has a bigger reach, and right now it doesn’t fit the bill as we a present in select markets. We currently advertise online besides using social media, and distributing leaflets," Singh further stated.

Burger Singh is further looking to increase the number of stores to 30 by the end of FY20, thereby taking the total number of stores to 57. The company's target is to try and launch two outlets a month.

"The aim is that in the next 13-14 months, everybody should have an access to Burger Singh," Singh added.

The QSR firm also plans to raise fresh funds in the range of Rs 45-Rs 50 crore. 

Singh said, "We are looking for a strategic investor, someone who comes in with more than simply money. We are looking for investors who can give us a horizon of 10 years to successfully build the company."

Liquor firm Alcobrew Distilleries is targeting a revenue of Rs 1,000 crore by fiscal 2021 as it expands its distribution reach and product offerings in India and overseas.

The company is further looking to invest about Rs 100 crore in the next two-three years for establishing a malt distillation and saturation plant and towards marketing of the brand.

Romesh Pandita, Chairman and MD of Alcobrew Distilleries, said, "We are looking at closing the current financial year with Rs 500 crore turnover and are looking at doubling it to Rs 1,000 crore at the end of 2020-21. We will achieve this growth as we deepen footprint in India, explore new markets overseas and also introduce new products and premium variants of existing brands."

Alcobrew Distilleries reported a net turnover of Rs 350 crore in the previous fiscal. Currently, the company only sells whiskey. But, it is eyeing at getting into rum and brandy products as well.

Danish brewer Carlsberg has reported 23% growth in its Indian business in the year to March 2018. The factor which led to the growth was sales of premium brands as well as disruptions such as highway ban and demonetisation in the base year. 

Carlsberg, the maker of eponymous brand and Tuborg, posted revenues of Rs 3,735 crore during FY18. Last year, the company had recorded revenues of Rs 3,041crore. The sales volume of the company rose 9.4% against the overall beer market growth of 8.6% during the year with market share increase of 100 basis points. 

Carlsberg said, "The growth in volume and sales is driven due to consistent and increasing consumer demand for our brands, sustainable marketing support and coupled with an increased production capacity of the company as a result of its operational contract manufacturing tie-ups." 

The world's third largest brewer forayed into India in 2007. It became profitable in FY17.

Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages (HCCB), the bottling arm of Coca-Cola in India, has reported a 4% decline in revenues at Rs 9,082 crore in 2017-18 (FY18). Last year, HCCB had total sales of Rs 9,502 crore.

During the year, HCCB's comparable operating revenue increased 7% and it gained 2.3% share in sparkling beverages.

Harsh Bhutani, Chief Financial Officer of HCCB, said, "Our focus on product mix, plus the launch of several new products last year, helped us increase our net revenue by 7% versus 2016-17, on a comparable basis. The introduction of GST helped us in leveraging our national supply chain and drive productivity. We are continuing to invest in cold drink equipment, manufacturing capacity and towards horizontal expansion, which will catalyse strong, stable growth, going forward."

Swiggy, a Bengaluru-based food delivery app, has recorded a 232% jump in its revenues. The company has earned operational revenues of Rs 442 crore. Last year, it earned Rs 133 crore.

The company saw its top-line surge in FY18 as it expanded its geographic footprint across India. It expanded its operations from seven cities in March 2017 to 12 by March 2018.

The losses of the online food ordering and delivery platform for the same period doubled to Rs 397 crore from Rs 205 crore in FY17. 

A spokesperson for Swiggy said, "In FY18, we remained focused on delivering exceptional value to our users while making significant investments for the future and improving our operational efficiencies as we start hitting the scale. This has resulted in the operating revenue increase outpacing the cost increase, further strengthening our leadership position as India's largest food ordering and delivery platform. We will continue to double down on this growth as we expand to more cities and experiment with innovative ways to bring more convenience to the lives of consumers."

Dairy major Amul is aiming 20 per cent growth to touch a turnover of Rs 50,000 crore this financial year, on the back of growing consumer portfolio, premiumisation and rising demand, a top company official said.

"The Amul brand, which clocked a turnover of over Rs 40,000 crore last financial year, will grow at 20 per cent this year," RS Sodhi, the managing director of Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which markets milk and milk products under the Amul brand said.

"We are launching several consumer products, and are also premiumising our offerings. The growing demand will help us see a good growth this year," he added.

The Amul brand includes the 18 member dairies of the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF).

GCMMF, however, registered only 8 per cent increase in turnover to Rs 29,220 crore in financial year 2017-2018, owing to a decline in commodity prices.

The consumer product portfolio has been growing at nearly 15 per cent on a volume basis, Sodhi pointed out, which has helped the performance of the Amul's branded products, despite lower commodity prices.

"Branded consumer products have registered a growth of 14 per cent in the last financial year, with products such as cheese, butter, milk beverages, paneer, cream, buttermilk and dahi having grown at 20-40 per cent," Sodhi said.

The 18 member unions of GCMMF has a farmer strength of more than 36 lakh across 18,700 villages of Gujarat, and is procuring on an average 211 lakhs litres of milk per day which is 20 per cent higher than the previous year.

The co-operative has also recently tied up with the government and lenders, under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana, to procure easy loans for its farmer partners.

"The scheme will help rural entrepreneurs immensely, to upgrade their facilities and will also help distributors and transporters. It will enhance the overall employment opportunities in rural India," Sodhi said.

Brand packaged food division of diversified conglomerate, ITC food expects its instant noodles brand Yippee to join 1000 crore revenue club by 2020 and emerge as the fourth powerful brand.

Yippee, which was launched in 2010 and includes both noodles and pastas, already has a share of 22.5% in a market that is roughly valued at about Rs 4,000 crore. While Nestle’s Maggi maintains a big lead in the segment as ever, the Kolkata-based ITC has seen Yippee’s presence grow in the segment by 5 percentage points annually since 2014, when Maggi went off the shelves for a while due to safety concerns.

ITC divisional chief executive (foods) Hemant Malik said Yippee will be our next mega brand, behind Aashirvaad, Sunfeast and Bingo. Aashirvaad is known for its atta, ghee and spices, Sunfeast for its biscuits, and Bingo for chips. All the three brands are worth more than Rs 1,000 crore each, according to the latest annual report from the company. All these brands are expected to be big revenue contributors as ITC targets Rs 1 lakh crore in non-cigarette revenue from packaged foods by 2030. With the demand for its noodles on the rise, Yippee is also expected to breach the Rs 1,000-crore mark soon and generate 15% of top line by 2020. We have observed a huge preference for Yippee, particularly among the younger consumers. There are plans to enter the snacking business under the brand.

Noodles segment, which is growing at 15-20% annually, contributed about 10% or Rs 804 crore to the branded packaged food products top line last fiscal.

Kerala-based food products company, Namboothiris Agro Foods Ltd hopes to touch the 100-crore turnover mark by the end of this financial year. The company will launch a range of fifty products in its food products segment including jams, curry powders, pickles, starting this Onam.

Rajeev. G. Kaimal, Director and Neelakantan Nambeesan, MD, Namboothiris Foods, said, "By the beginning of the Onam season, the company will have a range of more than 50 products in its food product segment."

Nambeesan added, "The most attractive innovation will be pickles packed in ceramic jars, a first in the industry. We have roped in actor Suresh Gopi as our brand ambassador."

The first company to launch packed pickles in the state fifty years ago, Namboothiris was recently acquired by Nambeesans Group, which has interests in restaurant and catering and real estate.

The company will expand its product range to seventy and move into other states next year.

The company has entered into an agreement with Chennai-based PayAgri Innovation, an Agro Fin Tech company, for the procurement of pesticide-free products directly from more than 60000 farmers in Tamil Nadu, directly by eliminating middlemen..

To beat competition, the company has come out with innovative products and packages.

Kaimal said, "We are introducing pickles packed in traditional ceramic jar for the first time in the industry. We have avoided plastic pouches and are using glass bottles and tins for packing products. Puttu podi (rice flour used for making Kerala dish puttu) in a cylindrical tin jar is another innovation." Passion fruit and Alphonso mango jam, Ramanad chilli powder are some innovative products.

The company is aiming at a turnover of Rs 500 crore in two years by scaling up its business pan-India.

The company plans to enter ayurvedic cosmetics and traditional handloom sector soon. The company has roped in Malayalam actor Suresh Gopi as its brand ambassador. The manufacturing facilities are located in Thodupuzha and Kattapana in Kerala and Muraleedharana Namboothiri who was the MD of Namboothiris earlier will be in charge of production.

Kolkata-based FMCG major, Anmol Industries said that though biscuits industry remains revenue neutral in the new taxation regime, the company was moving ahead for pan India presence by the current fiscal ending March 18.

Bimal Kumar Choudhary, MD, Anmol Industries, said, "Goods and services tax is revenue neutral for the biscuits industry. We are going ahead with plans to have our footprint in West and South India by this fiscal to have pan India presence."

The company said they are currently restricted in the east and northern markets of the country and enjoys 7% market share in these markets.

Ranendra Nath Ojha, Chief Marketing Officer, Anmol Industries, said, "We have 7% market share in the markets we are operating but on national ranking we are fourth with 4.8 per cent of share in the Rs 28000 crore industry."

The company plans to foray into Andhra Pradesh, Telegana, Maharashtra and Karnataka states in the next few months.

The company that began its journey in 1994 from Dankuni in West Bengal, now has 7 plants with the latest one in Bhubaneswar in Odhisa ramping its production capacity to three lakh tonne per month.

Ojha said, "The Rs 135 crore plant in Odisha will help us to expand in the state and foray into southern states."

Choudhary said, "The company was targeting Rs 2000 crore turnover by 2020. The company did not ruled out an initial public offer in future."

Bread maker, Modern Food Enterprises is planning to re-enter the Delhi market in next one year, either organically or through acquisitions, a top company executive said.

Aseem Soni, CEO, Modern Food, said, "We are not present in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana. In the next 12 months, we should be entering (these markets). The opportunity can exist in an acquisition, a joint venture or we may decide to do it ourselves."

He said, "Delhi is one of the largest markets and we are not there. Once upon a time Modern used to be the number one brand in Delhi. We are looking at the central and northern parts of India where we are not present the way we should be."

The company clocked a turnover of Rs 270 crore last fiscal and is eyeing a growth of 25 per cent in the current financial year.

Soni said, "The company is targeting a revenue of Rs 1000 crore by 2021 and also planning to enhance its non-bread portfolio, which it expects would contribute one-third of the revenue by then."

Currently, the firm's non-bread portfolio is present mainly in the southern market and contributes around 7-7.5 per cent of the turnover.

He said, "Modern, we feel, somewhere has the right to play in the bakery category. Longer shelf-life products like cakes, muffins, cream-filled things, for that we are setting up a new vertical within the organisation. By the end of this year, we will have a very exciting portfolio."

He further added, "Cakes and rusks are definitely the category we will enter. I don't think we want to play in the biscuit and cookies segment as of now."

Homegrown Beverage Company, Manpasand Beverages Ltd. has reported a 43.85 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 72.63 crore for the financial year ended March 2017 as against net profit of Rs. 50.49 crore in the corresponding period last year.

Total income for the FY16-17 at Rs 735.02 crore were higher by 35.83 per cent compared to Rs 541.14 crore in the previous fiscal. EPS for FY16-17 was at Rs 12.70. Company recommended dividend of Rs 1 per share (10 per cent on the face value of Rs 10 per share).

For the Q4 ended March 2017, company reported a net profit of Rs 31.33 crore as against a net profit of Rs 25.59 crore in the corresponding period last year, a growth of 22.43 per cent. Total income in the Q4 FY 2016-17 was Rs 281.92 crore, a growth of 31.31 per cent as compared to Rs. 214.69 crore in the same period last year. EPS for the Q4 ended March 2017 was at Rs 5.48 per share.

Dhirendra Singh said, Chairman&MD, Manpasand Beverages, said, “This has been a remarkable financial year. One of the biggest highlight of the year was beginning work on four new manufacturing units simultaneously. With these plants in place, the Company will double its production capacity in the coming 12-18 months. We also took the significant step of entering the southern markets and strengthened our reach across South India. In addition, we have lined up a few product launches that are not only innovative but also cater to health conscious customers.”

Liquor company, Pincon Spirits, which reported Rs 1561.72 crore revenue in FY16-17, is looking at doubling its revenue to Rs 3000 crore by 2020 as it continues to focus on mass market segments.

According to the company, there is big opportunity for growth of players like Pincon Spirits as large liquor companies are vacating low-priced segment focus on premiumisation.

In the current fiscal, Pincon Spirits is eyeing 20 per cent revenue growth through new product launches, entering new markets and consolidating its manufacturing operations and increase brand spending.

The spirits maker also plans to expand its footprint to four new southern markets of Kerala, Puducherry, Goa and Tamil Nadu.

The company said, "In the current fiscal, it will launch new whiskey in 10 states and enter Kerala."

The company, which also sells edible oils, is looking at widening its FMCG presence from 9 states to pan-India.

Pincon Spirits has charted out a capex of Rs 300 crore during the current fiscal in enhancing distilleries capacity, increasing retail chain and expanding footprint.