The Hindu Business Line : PKM Foods plans pickles, papad foray

The Rs 1.5-crore Prakash Kolhapuri Masale is diversifying into pickles with the launch of six new varieties. Mr Rahul Jadhav, Managing Director, PKM Foods Pvt Ltd, told presspersons that the company would launch a range of chilli-lime, sweet mango, special mango, sweet lime, lemon and mixed pickle. Manufactured in packs of 200 gm, 500 gm, 1 kg and 5 kg, the pickles would be priced between Rs 15 and Rs 250.

The major players in Maharashtra's pickle industry include Pravin Masale, Kamadhenu, Bedekar, Ramdev, Kapre and Mother Recipe which together contribute about Rs 200 crore to the organised domestic market valued ataround Rs 700 crore. The domestic pickle market in both the organised and unorganised markets is valued at about Rs 7,000 crore.

Mr Jadhav said his company would launch speciality pickles comprising turmeric pickle, bitter gourd, garlic, awla and mine-mula varieties by August this year.

Turnover target

With a target of Rs 2 crore turnover from the pickle segment, the company eyed a target of Rs 4 crore for 2007-08, he said. It would first enter Pune and surrounding areas and later expand to Mumbai, Marathwada, Konkan, North Maharashtra and Goa, he said.

The products would be made available at 20,000 retail shops across Maharashtra and Goa by the end of fiscal 2007. The second phase of its retail plan would cover 30,000 retail shops in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

Mr Jadhav said to cater to this expansion requirement, PKM has set up an 18,000 sq ft manufacturing unit at Pisoli in Pune with an initial investment of Rs 3 crore. Currently, the unit has production capacity for 1,000 tonnes of pickles and 5,000 tonnes of masala a year.

The Pisoli unit is the company's second facility, with the first facility located at Satara Road slated for shutdown by August this year.

Mr Jadhav said PKM, which currently sells kanda lasoon (onion-garlic), garam masala and non-veg masala, would launch variants such as sambhar masala, pav bhaji, pani puri and jaljeera. It would also launch a papad range in March in urad, moong, garlic and chilli variants. He said the company eyed a turnover of Rs 50 lakh from the papad range during 2007-08.

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