The Hindu Business Line : Desai Brothers forays into ethnic foods market

At a press conference to launch the Mother's Recipe range of pickles in Chennai, Mr Mayur Awasthi, General Manager - Marketing, Desai Brothers Ltd (Food Division), said the company was planning to invest over Rs 70 - 100 crore in expanding this business.

Ethnic foods such as pickles, chutneys, savouries and other spicy items constitute a Rs 4,500 - Rs 5,000-crore business. The company is looking to carve out for itself a sumptuous share of this market.

Its strengths in the market dominated by the unorganised sector are the quality, extensive marketing network and the intensive research that goes into developing an authentic tasting product. Whether a Punjabi or an Andhra pickle or a Tamil Nadu pickle paste, the company goes into the details including sourcing the best quality raw material from the region. The production is at a modern facility based in Pune, he said. The company, with major interests in tobacco-related products industry, chemicals and finance, is looking to the ethnic foods industry as an area of growth. Because of the potential available, ethnic foods business suggested itself when the company was on the look out for new avenues of investment. Changing lifestyles and social concerns have seen the tobacco industry stagnate and the foods businesses increase, he said.

Mother's Recipe a brand that it acquired from American Dry Fruits Ltd is a popular and well-accepted brand. The Desai brothers hope to build on the existing brand strengths including intensifying marketing efforts through a 300-strong distributor network that will put their products on 2.5 lakh shop shelves, he said.

In Chennai, it has also launched appalams, which will be sold in handy packs, a novel feature for this produce, according to Mr Awasthi. Currently there are 29 varieties in pickles and the company will add more variants soon. The pickles will be available in retail packs of 200-g pouches and 300 - 500-g bottles. Bulk packs of 3 - 5 kg will also be available, he said.

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