Snapshots of Food Industry News
Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Ltd to set up new bottling plants
Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages (HCCBL) will be setting up two bottling plants in Ahmedabad and Nellore with an investment of Rs.1000 crores. HCCBL which is the bottling arm of Coca-Cola in India presently operates 26 bottling plants and handles 65 percent of Coca-Cola bottling operations in the country. The two new Greenfield plants would add another 4 to 5 percent to the existing capacity. These two Greenfield plants will have multiple bottling lines for carbonated beverages for Coca-Cola, Fanta, Sprite, Limca, Thums-Up and other juice and juice based drinks like Maaza and Minute Maid as well as for Coca- Cola’s bottled water Kinley.
HCCBL is also gearing up to set up a similar plant in Audyogik Kendra Vikas Nigam (AKVN) Babai Industrial Area, Hoshangabad in Madhya Pradesh with an investment of Rs.750 crore. The company has already completed the ground-breaking of the 110 acre plant. The MP Industry Minister Rajendra Shukla has also laid the foundation stone. Besides housing multiple bottling lines the plant will also have different wings like production and warehouse building. They also intend to have a zero discharge plan.
Last year HCCBL had suspended manufacturing in some of its plants as they wanted to establish a new supply chain. Their supply chain was set up in the late 90s and since then the landscape has changed tremendously. The company now has a larger portfolio and hence they feel the need to reinvent their supply chain based on current demand. All these activities are in line with Coca-Cola’s announcement in 2012 that it would invest at least $5 billion by 2020 along with India partners in various activities. The investments are in line with the company’s long term growth strategy for India and which also keeps local and national interest in mind.
OmniActive Health Technologies acquires major stake in Indfrag
OmniActive Health Technologies has acquired 85 percent stake as well as entered into an agreement for acquiring the balance stake in the Bengaluru-based Indfrag. The move is in keeping with OmniActive’s programme to form global partnerships that will help it to expand its portfolio of high-quality, authenticated ingredients for the dietary supplement and functional food industries. OmniActive has acquired Indfrag by raising funds from various sources including the recent private equity (PE) investment by Everstone. Both companies will continue to manage their respective product lines and customers.
Indfrag has a well-established reputation for supplying high-quality botanical and plant extracts from India and South East Asia. It is especially known for its Garcinia Cambogia, green coffee, Valerian and natural caffeine extracts. It also manufactures products such as turmeric, green tea, boswellia, fenugreek, senna, coleus, guarana, etc. It has also developed over 100 botanicals which will provide a strong foundation for OmniActive Health to launch products that complement its innovation platform and fulfil its aim of improving lives through nutrition and wellness. As part of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) taskforce OmniActive Health will work to align the Indian industry to meet regulations and build the confidence of the consumers.
Bengaluru’s ID Fresh raises $25 million funding from Premji Invest
ID Fresh Foods, known for their idly and dosa batter and ready to eat chapattis and Malabar parothas, has raised $25 million funding from Wipro billionaire Azim Premji’s Premji Invest. With this investment, Premji Invest has acquired 25 per cent stake in the Bengaluru based brand. In 2015 Helion Ventures has invested Rs.35 crore in the company and had picked up the same stake. The new funding will help ID Fresh to expand its portfolio and grow its national footprint. ID Fresh started in 2006 as a small store selling dosa batter in Bengaluru and today it puts home-made meals on tables in a number of metros besides offering ready to eat products. Its operations have spread to Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Mysore and even Dubai.
IKEA to open Swedish restaurant in its Hyderabad store
Along with 7,500 furniture pieces and home furnishing products the IKEA store in Hyderabad will also have a 1,000-seater Swedish restaurant. Since IKEA does not want to force people to eat only Swedish food, the restaurant will serve healthy and nutritious Indian and Swedish cuisine at affordable prices. Since they wish to serve unique Swedish menu they have decided not to serve meatballs. Everyone serves meatballs but they will serve only chicken and veg balls in a traditional Swedish way with mashed potato, cream sauce and lingo berries. The restaurant will open half an hour after opening the store. They also have plans to offer free coffee to attract more customers.
IKEA is a Swedish multinational that offers ready to assemble furniture and home accessories. It received approval from the government in 2013 to invest Rs.10, 500 crores in India under the 100 per cent foreign direct investment route. Their next plan is to open a similar store in Mumbai and eventually have 25 stores in nine Indian cities and add to its 328 stores around the globe. The restaurant business accounts for 5.4 per cent of the total revenue of IKEA but they are expecting the restaurant in India to contribute 10 per cent of the total revenue.
Fresh round of funding helps Milk Mantra Dairy raise Rs.66 crore
Milk Mantra Dairy has raised Rs.66.5 crore in a fresh round of funding led by State Bank of India-backed Neev Fund. The Odisha-based dairy start-up is seven years old and has backers like Eight Roads Ventures, the investment arm of asset management giant Fidelity International, and impact investor Aavishkaar. The funding will be used to make acquisitions and expand its footprint across eastern India especially in Jharkand, Chhattisgarh and Bengal. Milk Mantra is also planning on setting up Greenfield projects. Ambalika Banerjee from Neev Fund and Dhyanesh Shah from Eight Roads will join the company’s board. The present round of funding is part of a larger funding round that is expected to close during the year.
People and Placements
Jubilant Foodworks Ltd (JFL) has named former Pepsi Official Pratik Pota as its Chief Executive Officer designate and will take over from present CEO Ajay Kaul in April 2017. Ajay Kaul had announced his resignation in September 2016. Pota is a Kolkata IIM and BITs Pilani alumnus and has worked with Pepsi as Chief Officer (Foods and Beverages). He has also worked with Bharti Airtel and Hindustan Unilever. JFL is the exclusive franchisee of quick service restaurants like Domino’s and Dunkin Donuts and has been having slow sales. This has been the case with all QSR as customers have cut back on discretionary spending and eating out.
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