Snapshots of Food Industry News
Ratan Tata invests undisclosed amount in Teabox
Ratan Tata, chairman Tata Sons has made an investment in Teabox, the speciality tea company. While the amount remains undisclosed the invested capital is likely to fuel Teabox’s expansion plans in world markets. Teabox has already delivered over 30 million cups of tea in over 93 countries but have their eyes set on becoming the first global premium tea brand from India.
Teabox ships premium tea, sourced directly from Assam, Darjeeling, Nilgiri and even Nepal to markets around the world. Teabox founder and CEO Kaushal Dugar said that with Ratan Tata on board they will get the direction to move towards their vision. Ratan Tata comes to the table with much experience of the tea industry as well as global vision which can be seen in the way he has propelled Tata group to a global level.
Adani Wilmar launches the first diabetes care oil – Fortune VIVO
Adani Group and Singapore-based Wilmar International have unveiled the country’s first diabetes care oil. The oil has been launched with the view to help patients control Type II diabetes as this lifestyle disease is quite prevalent in India. With the introduction of this unique product the cooking oil maker and distributor Adani Wilmar (AWL) have broadened their range of products. Presently the product will target the higher income group who are prone to lifestyle diseases. The fact that VIVO will benefit diabetics has been proved and the research papers have been submitted and accepted by one of the best medical journals of the world.
Fortune VIVO is being manufactured as a niche product in the company’s Krishnapatnam plant in Andhra Pradesh which has an annual capacity of 40,000-50,000 tonnes. The company plans to market the product in 18 cities by March 31 and later to the rest of the country. ‘Fortune VIVO’ will cost around Rs.135 per litre, which is a good 30-40 per cent more than the normal refined oil in the market. The company is expecting the brand to contribute between two to three percent to its revenue. The company is also planning to launch another product by June 2016 in the food category for which research and development is underway presently.
Bids to be floated to turnaround ailing Delhi Milk Scheme
Delhi Milk Scheme was set up in 1959 to provide milk to Delhi citizens at reasonable prices and to provide remunerative prices to milk producers. However, the company has been ailing for some time so the Cabinet had earlier decided to turn it into a corporation. The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi recently viewed the progress and the decision has been made to float bids to invite companies to turnaround the DMS.
Milk companies like Amul, Nandini from Karnataka, Sudha from Bihar, Delhi’s Mother Dairy and Saras from Rajasthan have shown interest. The company that wins the bid will get a long term, 30 years lease to run operations and maintain DMS. This will also ensure that the company is able to make profits using the existing infrastructure and resources. DMS has 800 employees and a packaging capacity of 5lakh litres. Besides processing milk, DMS also manufactures yogurt, ghee, butter, paneer, buttermilk and flavoured milk. The milk and dairy products are marketed through DMS’s 1298 outlets in the NCR.
JISL launches the first retail product ‘AamRus’
The food division of Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd (JISL) has launched their first branded retail product AamRus under the Jain FarmFresh brand. ‘AamRus is processed and sweetened Alphonso and Kesar mango pulp that has no added colour or flavour. At present ‘AamRus’ is available in hyper-city and Sahkaari Bhandaar stores but will be sold across Mumbai in a couple of months. Later the company plans to expand into the rest of Maharashtra. Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat and it will take about six months to reach the rest of India.
JISL’s food division is a subsidiary of Jain Farm Fresh Foods Ltd which has been processing foods since 1994. JFFFL makes mango, banana, guava, strawberry pulps as well as dehydrated vegetables. It also supplies products to customers like Coca Cola, Frito-Lay, Nestle and Unilever on the B2B platform. The entry into the retail food market is being seen as an opportunity to create a niche in the processed food industry which is on a growth trajectory.
Food firm Future Consumers Enterprises Ltd. raises Rs.300crore
The Kishore Biyani firm Future Consumers Enterprises Ltd (FCEL) has raised Rs.300crore from private equity firm Black River. In January the company entered into an investment agreement with Black River to issue compulsory convertible debentures and shares to them. Black River will subscribe to the CCD’s and equity shares for a sum of rs.301.50crore and will have the right to nominate one director.
In December FCEL had announced that they would raise Rs.368crore to improve costs and maturity profile of debts. FCEL is an integrated food company that sources basic foods like rice, wheat, spices and pulses and then grades, processes, packages them to turn them into brands. It also turns products like dairy, bakery, juices, frozen foods, snacks, ready to eat meals, dips and sauces into brands.
SUMUL’s dairy operations in Goa to help farmers
Surat District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union (SUMUL) has received the license to begin dairy operations in Goa. SUMUL’s plan is to encourage farmers to form self-help groups that will collect milk from members. SUMUL on their part will provide them facilities like fat testing machines, computers, compressors, generators and bulk chilling units. While the equipment will belong to SUMUL the farmers will get these facilities free of cost. SUMUL will also provide veterinary treatment for animals at a reasonable cost. The veterinary doctor’s fees will be deducted from the proceeds of the milk provided by the farmer while the medicines will be free of cost.
SUMUL has also committed to the Goa government that they would procure milk only from farmers in Goa for SUMUL. The cooperative has been marketing their AMUL brand of milk since September 2013 in Goa. SUMUL would like to improve the socio-economic condition of farmers by paving the way for quality milk production through good animal husbandry practices and reasonably priced quality cattle feed and transparent milk procurement system.
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