Tata Consumer to continue growing portfolio in pantry platforms and liquids

Krishnakumar added that when it looks at categories within foods it tries to see if those are the categories it wants to operate in

After announcing two acquisitions in the foods segment in January, Tata Consumer Products (TCP) will continue growing its portfolio in pantry platforms and liquids.

“There is a smaller version of future investment horizons, the investments that we've made in protein and other areas. Inside this, there could be opportunities to grow organically or inorganically. They can go both ways,” Ajit Krishnakumar, chief operating officer (COO) at TCP told Business Standard.

He added that when the company looks at categories within foods, it tries to see if those are the categories it wants to operate in.

While talking about Capital Foods and Organic India acquisitions, Krishnakumar said in the former case, the company completed the supply chain integration within 48 hours after closing the deal. It sealed the Capital Foods deal in the first week of February. Capital Foods houses the 'Ching’s Secret' and 'Smith & Jones' brands.

He said that after the acquisition, there is only one consolidated supply chain for TCP instead of an exclusive supply chain for Capital Foods products as the former has a wider reach.

“The integration of Capital Foods happened within 48 hours. This speed of integration has not been seen before, and is a result of the learning and continuous improvements in the integration playbook,” Krishnakumar said.

He also added that the speed and efficiency with which Capital Foods has been integrated is by far considered one of the fastest in India.

The company also expects the integration of Organic India to close within a similar time-frame. “We are in a position to do the same with Organic India as it reaches only 24,000 stores currently,” said Krishnakumar.

He said TCP has learnt to integrate faster from the merger of Tata Chemicals consumer products business with Tata Global Beverages. After the merger, it took nine months to integrate the business.

When TCP acquired Soulfull, it took two-three months to merge while the backend took a bit longer.

In January, the company entered into a share purchase agreement (SPA) with shareholders and promoters of Capital Foods to acquire 100 per cent stake at an enterprise value on a no-cash/no-debt basis of Rs 5,100 crore in a phased manner.

TCP also entered into an SPA with Fabindia in an all-cash deal to acquire Organic India for an enterprise value of Rs 1,900 crore.