The Hindu Business Line : Satnam Overseas to diversify product range

SATNAM Overseas Ltd, manufacturer of Kohinoor brand of Basmati rice, is diversifying its product range to other food products to emerge as a leading food company by 2005, according to the Director of Satnam Overseas Ltd, New Delhi, Mr Nitin Arora.

He told presspersons here on Monday that Kohinoor enjoys more than 32 per cent share of the branded Basmati rice market in India. Apart from being the leader in premium segment, it has emerged as the largest selling brand in the country.

He said that Satnam Overseas Ltd has emerged as a Rs 450-crore company offering a diverse range of high-quality Indian food products. It has introduced packaged products such as Kohinoor Heat & Eat Indian Curries, Kohinoor Rice & Curry and Kohinoor Namkeenz.

Kohinoor Heat & Eat Indian Curries are a range of ready-to-eat Indian delicacies, and use the retort technology to offer extended shelf life to the products through steam sterilisation.

Packed in retort pouches, these products could be made ready to consume in two to three minutes by immersing the pouch into boiling water or putting the contents of the pouch in microwave oven and heating them, he said.

Traditional Indian savouries such as bhelpuri, aloo bhujia, and bhakarwadi are available under the brand Kohinoor Namkeenz, he added.

Contract farming: Asked about the company's experience in contract farming, Mr Arora said that Basmati is grown on nearly 30,000 acres of land in Punjab under this agreement. This type of farming is beneficial for both the farmers and the company.

However, he said that the company does not have plans at present for contract farming of other varieties of rice in southern India.

Mr H. Vasanth Shenoy of H. Kamalaksh Shenoy & Co, the super distributors of Satnam Overseas Ltd, was present on the occasion.

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