Haldiram’s Foods International is planning to expand its restaurant chain in South and West India, capitalizing on the increasing demand for dining out.
The family-owned business, dating back to the 1930s, is also accelerating its growth efforts by actively exploring acquisitions in the healthy snacking market. “An announcement could be made within this fiscal year,” said Neeraj Agarwal, director, Haldiram’s Foods.
The Agarwal family has interests in the quick-service restaurant (QSR) space and packaged foods sector. It operates several entities including Haldiram’s Foods International Pvt. Ltd in Nagpur, Haldiram’s Snacks Ltd in NCR, besides Haldiram’s Ethnic Foods Pvt. Ltd. While both Delhi and Nagpur function as separate operating units, they collaborate on brand decisions, said Agarwal, who is responsible for retail as well as restaurant expansion, and development of new products at Haldiram’s.
Haldiram’s boasts a network of over 250 outlets, with 120 in north India and 135 in central and south India. “Earlier, we were primarily concentrated in Nagpur and Delhi, but now we have expanded to different states,” he said. “We have outlets in Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Nashik and Bengaluru, as well as in non-metros such as Shirdi, Raipur, Jabalpur, and Indore, mostly opened in the last two to three years.”
“Within the next two years, we plan to open 150-200 more outlets in central and South.”
Haldiram’s sells Indian fast food, snacks, and a variety of Indian sweets. The majority of its establishments are company-owned. “We believe Indian food has lot of potential. However, no single brand has a big footprint in India’s QSR space, while western companies have expanded,” Agarwal said.
Homegrown packaged food makers always put up a strong show against foreign snacking companies riding on the preference for diverse region-specific tastes of consumers.
Organized savoury snacks market in India was valued at ₹4,100 crore in 2021. Western snacks had a lion’s share with 58.3%, and ethnic snacks and namkeens contributed 26.3%.
Agarwal also highlighted its interest in local snacking firms especially companies offering healthy snack options. Haldiram’s is in the early stages of identifying the right partner.
“We are focused on increasing our footprint in the healthy snacking market, and we are in talks with many brands selling such products, especially for acquisitions or understanding a portfolio that gels well with ours. We are looking at adding new products using our own research and development.”
“Acquisitions could include a regional or national brand, if it grows well, and if we believe in a product, we will definitely going to onboard the brand.”
On the news of Haldiram’s plans of divesting a significant stake to Tata Consumer Products and a private equity firm, Agarwal said: “As of now, we are not looking at any dilution, but of course later on, we don’t know how things progress.”
Last year, Haldiram’s Foods International also set up a dairy plant to sell packaged lassi, flavored milk, etc. The company will scale its presence in the value-added beverages and ethnic beverages over the next two years, he added.
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Updated: 11 Sep 2023, 12:08 AM IST