Food and beverages major Parle Agro has inked an agreement with Keventer Agro to set up a food processing plant in Kolkata to manufacture Hippo - Parle Agro’s snacks brand.
The agreement also delegates to Keventer the marketing, sales and distribution of Hippo.
The plant, which will be an addition to the four existing factories in Ahmedabad, New Delhi, Hyderabad and Rudrapur, will cater mostly to markets in West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and the North-East.
The move could be seen as a part of the Parle Agro’s strategy aimed at extending its snacks range.
Hippo recently came up with Hippo Round Round, which is a wheat-based snack available in five flavours. It contains no trans-fats, cholesterol or added MSG or GMO.
“We have decided to partner with Keventer for our range of food brands. We consider this a positive, forward-looking step which will help leverage our combined strengths to expand Hippo’s reach in the east,” said Nadia Chauhan, joint managing director and CMO (Chief Marketing Officer), Parle Agro.
Mayank Jalan, Managing Director, Keventer Agro, said, “We are excited about the tie-up and confident about Hippo making it amongst the top snack brands in the East within a year.”