A desi brand is set to give competition to the likes of PepsiCo in the snacks market. After tasting success at general trade stores, Indore-based Prataap Snacks, known for its range of potato chips and snacks under brand Yellow Diamond, is now looking to strengthen its position in the modern retail stores.

The company is looking to raise ₹100 crore in the next one year and has also roped in actor Salman Khan to increase its visibility. Already funded by Sequoia Capital, the company is yet to finalise the modalities for the fresh round of funding. “We could look at roping in more investors. The Board will take the final call,” said Amit Kumat, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, Prataap Snacks.

“We are going to invest about ₹100-200 crore in the next 3-4 years on expansion of manufacturing capacity, increasing the depth of our distribution as well as growing distribution in regions such as the Southern region,” he said.

Capacity expansion

The company closed last fiscal year with over ₹750 crore in turnover and hopes to continue to grow at a CAGR of 20-25 per cent. Kumat said if the company has to grow at the same rate it will need to continue to invest in capacity expansion and distribution.

Having strong distribution at the bottom of the pyramid such as the general trade stores in the North, East and West, the company has now set its sights to increase its distribution in the modern trade stores in the key metros. The company also wants to grow its presence in the Southern region.

“Salman Khan is the top actor in the industry right now. He has a strong mass appeal and we hope to leverage on this association to grow faster, increase distribution and sales especially in the A and B class outlets in the key metros,” Kumat said.

Healthy snacks

Known for its potato chips, namkeen and extruded snacks, the company will be launching a slew of innovations in the market. “We will be introducing a slew of healthy snacks which have not yet been manufactured in India such as the quinoa chips. Our R & D team has been working on these products for the past one year. So we hope to launch variants such as quinoa chips, lentil chips and vegetable chips in various flavours, which we will launch by Diwali,” he said. With 95 per cent of the company’s sales coming in from price points of ₹5 and ₹10, it will be launching the health snacks at premium price points at key modern trade stores.

Besides focusing on growing regional flavours, the company will also be foraying into the sweet-snacks segments. “ As we grow our manufacturing capacity at Indore, we will be ready to launch 3-4 products in the sweet-snacks segment,” he added.

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