P Sadananda Maiya, chairman of Maiyas Foods & Beverages, who is widely regarded as father of the Indian processed food industry, is gearing up for a steep growth trajectory of his nearly two-year-old company. He has raised a good Rs 100 crore from Bangalore-based private equity fund -- Ascent Capital.
Maiyas Foods & Beverages was started by Sadananda Maiya during April, 2012, five years after he sold the iconic company he founded -- MTR Foods to Norway-based Orkla Corporation for a nice sum of Rs 360 crore during April, 2007.
During the past 12-18 months, he has been aggressively rolling out a series of snacks, instant mixes, masalas and frozen products in the market under the 'Maiyas' brand. He has been fine-tuning the entire process -- right from getting that right ingredient to the texture of the food and the distribution network.
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“We have raised Rs 100 crore from Ascent Capital and we share a good rapport with the team at Ascent Capital. We have been in discussions with a few funds and we finally settled for Ascent Capital after long discussions on how we wanted to chart the growth of the company,” Sadananda Maiya told Business Standard in an exclusive interview.
Raja Kumar, founder & CEO, Ascent Capital, who manages around $650 million across funds, said: "In Maiyas, we have partnered a proven entrepreneur who is considered a pioneer in the Indian processed food industry and 'Maiyas' has unique potential to emerge as a reputed brand among Indians and the Indian Diaspora."
Maiyas Food & Beverages has so far seen an investment of close to Rs 80 crore and the fresh funds will be used extensively for oiling the mean marketing machine which Maiyas in putting in place. “We entered the instant mix and masalas market in April 2012 and post that, we aggressively rolled out the snacks line of business which is proving to be a major revenue earner for the company. We intend to clock revenues of Rs 200 crore during the present financial year,” Maiya detailed.
Maiyas has structured the entire business into two verticals -- snacks, beverages and sweets in one category while the masalas, mixes and ready-to-eat into another. Presently, Maiyas has around 150 SKUs (stock keeping units) and snacks accounts for as much as half of its present revenues.
This fund raise comes at a time for Maiyas Food & Beverages when his erstwhile company, MTR Foods, is also flexing its muscle in the marketplace with a range of launches.
Maiyas has established a decent distribution network across South, East and North India, and is preparing measuring up for a Western India expansion pretty soon.
“We should be a pan-India player shortly. We have also established our presence in the exports markets including in Japan, Australia, South East Asia, United States and parts of Europe,” Maiya explained.
In addition to an expansive network across the marketplace in modern trade as well as the kirana stores, Maiyas has set up the 'Maiyas Express' across Bangalore to push the packaged foods further, even as one can have a good taste of the snacks in a stand-in format.