Desai Brothers eyes Rs 250 crore sales from food business

The company expects at least Rs 100 crore of sales from the Mother's Recipe pickle brand in next four years.

The company is now planning to take the new brand to major countries across the world during the next few months of the current fiscal year to reach its export revenue target of Rs 70 crore by the end of 2007.

With the food business in hand, DBL is aiming at reaching a cumulative turnover of Rs 500 crore by the end of the 2007, majority of which will come from its bidi business.

"With uncertainty looming large on the tobacco business in the country, we are trying to consolidate our position in the food industry. We had this in our mind when we acquired Mother's Recipe brand from American Dry Foods about two years back. Now, as the brand proved to be a success during the last 16 months, we are planning to focus more on it. We hope to post around Rs 250 crore turnover from the food business, including Rs 100 crore from the pickle segment in the next four years," Sanjay J Desai, executive director of Desai Brothers, said.

The pickle business is expected to generate a revenue of Rs 14 crore by the end of this fiscal year, while the entire food division, which sells papads, chutneys and 'appalams', along with the pickle business may generate Rs 22 crore by the end of March, 2004.

DBL has so far launched 26 variants of its pickles nationally while it is developing three new variants in the segment, targeting the eastern part of the country.

"In fact, we are preparing the pickles to cater to different eating habits and taste requirements of various regions. Same is the case with exports," Desai, who was in Ahmedabad on Thursday to launch a new range of pickles in Gujarat, said.

The company is already exporting Mother's Recipe brand pickles in the Middle East, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.

The company has already done business worth Rs 3 crore during the last few months since the launch of the product in the overseas market.

"We are targeting an export revenue of Rs 8 crore by the end of this fiscal year from the pickle business. We are readying our own distribution network to enter into the markets of the US, Canada and the UK. Around two months back, we kicked off test-marketing in the US and the response was encouraging. Following this, we decided to expand our marketing in the country," Desai said.

The company is also looking at the opportunities in the Saarc countries where it may introduce its pickle and other food products in the next two years.

"In fact, we are going to launch a range of ready-to-eat food products in the overseas markets during April, next year which may be packed and sold under the Mother's Recipe brand. This is a known brand in a large number of countries. We will also launch new products in this segment in the domestic market which is estimated at around Rs 4,500 crore," Desai said.