ADF Foods gears up to expand presence in India with pickles, RTE curries
Monday, June 13, 2011 08:00 IST
Nandita Vijay, Bangalore

ADF Foods, a food processing major, which garners 95 per cent of its sales from the international markets of the US, Europe and Asia-Pacific, is now looking at increasing its presence in India. The company has a current market share of 5 per cent in India.

The company manufactures ethnic Indian pickles, chutneys, canned foods, frozen foods and spices under brands like Ashoka, Camel, Aeroplane, Khansaama, Soul and Truly Indian. The company has a network of over 175 distributors in over 75 countries with two manufacturing facilities in India and one in the US.
While Ashoka and Truly Indian are for the US, Europe and Asia-Pacific, its Camel and Aeroplane brands are popular in the Middle-East, and Khansaama, which is Mughlai Frozen Foods, caters to South Asians.
“Now we are looking at the Indian market with much gusto and this is with the Soul brand by introducing for the first time pickles made in virgin olive oil. There are also other products like ready-to-eat curries and mango chutney along with traditional pickles. This will help the company participate in the growing processed foods industry in India,” Bimal Thakkar, managing director, ADF Foods, told FnB News in a telecon during the sidelines of the Centrum Consumer Conference held at Mumbai on June 9 and 10, 2011.

The company has already test-marketed the Soul brand in 3,000 stores and is now gearing up for its pan-India launch. In 2010 end, the company acquired Elena Foods, USA, which is known for its Mexican food range. Now the action plan by ADF is to introduce not just Mexican but Italian and Thai dishes in its Indian offering, he added.

In a span of five years, domestic market share would be 40 per cent and the remaining 60 would constitute the international market revenues. Factors like dual incomes, interest to experiment on new flavours and exposure to international cuisines were driving the company to widen its product basket, stated the ADF chief.
Among the company’s new product launches under the Ashoka brand is the Bombay Chowpati Snacks range, which includes Dhokla, a popular traditional Gujarati dish prepared from lentil flour, steamed and garnished with mustard and coriander.

At the Centrum Consumer Conference, around 20 companies across the consumption chain including food processing and hospitality, were in attendance. The key objective of the event was to provide a platform for companies to give investors a better understanding of the consumption opportunity and insights into India’s changing consumption patterns.
According to the ADF chief, the event evinced considerable interest from the private equity. “Right now we are not looking at fund infusion as much of the resources are being raised through internal accruals. But will consider the same when it is required,” he said.

The zero-debt-listed company registered revenues to the tune of Rs 1,294 million in March 2011 with a profit after tax of Rs 141 million as against Rs 134 million in 2009-2011.
Despite the growing opportunities in Indian food processing space, the major challenge is the lack of cold chain to market the frozen snacks. The emergence of organised retail is expected to provide a big fillip to the food processing industry in India, stated the ADF chief.