Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Friday, Sep 19, 2003
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Friday, Sep 19, 2003 |
|
|
|
|
|
Marketing
-
Strategy Bagrrys India plans backward integration in health foods biz Ratna Bhushan
New Delhi , Sept. 18 BAGRRYS India Ltd, which manufactures and markets fast moving high fibre health foods such as oat bran, porridge, muesli and oatwheat cereals under the Bagrrys brand name, plans to extend its product mix to include other health food segments such as cornflakes and instant oats. ``We are exploring opportunities to enter new categories such as cornflakes through backward integration,'' Mr Shyam Bagri, Managing Director, Bagrrys India Ltd, told Business Line. Bagrrys India is part of the five-decades old, privately held, Rs 75-crore Bagrry's group. The group's core activity is flour milling. Companies under the Bagrrys group include Rajdhani Roller Flour Mills Ltd (a flour milling unit) in Delhi, Raibareilly Flour Mills in Uttar Pradesh, and Bagrrys India Ltd. Each of the three group companies supply flour to Nestle (for Maggi), Cadbury (for Perk and Gems), Glaxo SmithKline (for Horlicks), Parle and Britannia (for biscuits), Domino's and MTR, among others. Bagrrys India was set up in 1986, and began manufacturing and distributing high fibre health foods in 1991 under the brands Wheatex and Oatex. About four years later, the company introduced its own muesli and granola bars under the umbrella brand — Bagrry's. Subsequently, all products sold as Wheatex and Oatex were also brought under the Bagrry's umbrella. The group has projected its high fibre health foods business to account for about Rs 8 crore of its overall revenues by March 2004, against Rs 5 crore currently, Mr Bagri said. The company recently made a foray into the Nepal market by forming a strategic alliance with the Nepal-based Sumeru Marketing Pvt Ltd. Plans to export to other countries such as Sri Lanka, Bangladesh the following year, to be followed by Malaysia, Dubai and West Asian countries, are currently underway. Meanwhile, plans are afoot to set up another factory in Himachal Pradesh for the health foods business, on an initial investment of Rs 1.5-2 crore, Mr Bagri said. This manufacturing facility will be in addition to two existing factories in Delhi, both of which are dedicated to high fibre health foods. Talks on for flour supply to ITC Bagrrys India is in talks with ITC for the purpose of supplying flour to ITC, for the latter's Sunfeast brand of biscuits. ITC had forayed into biscuits earlier this year, in the glucose, marie and cream segments. The tobacco major's biscuits foray comes under the company's foods division. ITC Foods has projected sales of Rs 500 crore within five years, of which biscuits are expected to account for sales of Rs 150-200 crore. The company has been outsourcing its biscuits through units in Bengal and Nagpur.
Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication
|
Stories in this Section |
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | The Sportstar | Frontline | The Hindu eBooks | Home |
Copyright © 2003, The
Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu Business Line
|