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Hyderabad, Aug. 7 Heritage Foods India Ltd, promoters of Fresh retail outlets, plans to open another 20 outlets in Hyderabad in the next one year. The company currently has 30 outlets in various parts of the city.

“The idea is to attain saturation in every city that we are present in and also provide a platform for getting all the necessary items for a kitchen in one place,” Mr M. Sambasiva Rao, President, Heritage Foods India, told newspersons on the sidelines of a seminar here on Thursday.

The company, which has 23 outlets in Bangalore and 22 in Chennai, is looking at increasing the number to between 45 and 50 in both these locations.

Mr Rao said the cost of each outlet would vary depending on the rate at which it enters into the long-term lease in each location but on an average the investment required is close to Rs 50 lakh.

When asked if the company was looking at the inorganic route for expansion, Mr Rao said that as a policy it intends to grow on its own strength and is not looking at any mergers or acquisitions.

Speaking on the Diary Division, he said the availability of milk is a challenge and companies in the sector are operating at below optimum level.

“We have an installed capacity of 15 lakh litres per day but at the moment are producing between 7.5 to eight lakh litres per day. It might take another year to reach full capacity,” he said.

He said that the cost of procurement had also gone up by Rs 2 per litre at the farm level and currently they were paying between Rs 270 and Rs 280 per kg fat. Power cuts and increase in diesel cost have added to the problems.

More Stories on : Retailing | Foods & Food Processing

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