Dabur Foods eyes Rs 500 crore turnover

Dabur Foods, which sells Real fruit juices and Hommade brand of cooking pastes, is planning to grow its sales to Rs 500 crore from the current Rs 86 crore in the next five years, said Amit Burman, CEO Dabur Foods.

The company has posted profits for the first time since it was spun-off into a separate division of Dabur India Ltd in 1999.

It recorded a net profit of Rs 1.5 crore and the turnover increased by a healthy 24 per cent to around Rs 85 crore as compared to Rs 69 crore in the previous fiscal year.

"We have just now begun to benefit from the efficiencies of scale. In the next five years the profit margins will also go up to 10 per cent," said Burman.

Dabur Foods' two brands grew at a pace of 36 per cent and 25 per cent respectively, last year. "Sine nearly 25 per cent of Real's sales come from hotels and restaurants, the upswing in tourism last year was very beneficial," said Burman.

Besides the existing products in its portfolio, Dabur Foods expects other ready-to-cook and niche products to drive growth in the next few years.

The company is already test marketing its tomato soup under the Hommade brand. "There is a lot of R&D in progress to develop products in certain other categories,"

Burman said. Dabur Foods has recently launched Real Junior, a 125 ml pack of apple and mango drinks, aimed at children below the age of six.

"Our research showed that this segment was largely untapped. The pack size and price point are well suited for this segment," he said.