Bengal-based spices manufacturer Cookme, which had witnessed a decline in sales during the first quarter of this fiscal with the Covid-induced lockdown impacting both supply and demand, is witnessing a strong revival in demand.

The company’s sales, which had dipped by nearly 15-20 per cent during Q1FY21, is expected to close this year with a 5-9 per cent growth. The growth in sales is likely to double to 10-15 per cent in FY22 on the back of the company’s diversification initiatives

According to Subhamoy Dutta, Director, Cookme, the company is looking to diversify into “related products” such as flour, gram flour and other spices and plans to strengthen its ready-to-eat portfolio to boost sales.

“When the lockdown was announced we faced some problems including shortage of raw material, labour and transport and logistics problems which affected our supplies. On the demand side, people were buying lower grammage, smaller packs. But now things are reviving and we expect sales to grow by 5-9 per cent over last year,” Dutta told BusinessLine .

The company, which had a turnover of around ₹115 crore in FY20, is expecting to touch sales of around ₹125 crore in 2020-21.

Product offerings

The pandemic has brought about changes in people’s eating and consumption habits. There has been a pick-up in demand for ready-to-eat food and blended spices which help reduce cooking time. The company will focus on growing its bouquet of offerings under these categories.

Cookme, a 175-year-old homegrown brand, which was traditionally known for its whole-powdered spices, has been growing its blended spices portfolio which now accounts for 15-20 per cent of its total sales.

Cookme, which has largely been focusing on the Bengal market, is now looking to venture into newer geographies, particularly in the eastern and north-eastern regions. The company is looking to enter into Assam and Odisha.

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