The country's largest commodity company Adani Wilmar is betting big on staples and scouting for the acquisition of regional rice brands and processing units in several states of the country, a top company official said. The company will launch branded daily-use rice under the fortune brand beginning with West Bengal from early April. The staple is just 11 percent of the company's topline.

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Adani Wilmar had acquired a sick rice processing unit in West Bengal to mark the journey in the segment which is 30-35 million tonne per annum in size. "We are targeting to grow fast in the daily-use rice segment which is 30-35 million tonne per annum apart from public distribution foodgrain. We are scouting for acquisitions of brands and rice processing units in several states for fast growth. We have done first from West Bengal taking over a sick unit," Adani Wilmar MD & CEO, Angshu Mallick told PTI.

Acquisitions allow quicker rollout and rapid growth. Greenfield will take at least two years to begin operation, he said. "We are already into Basmati but it is only 10 percent of rice consumption so we cannot ignore regional local rice used for daily consumption which is a huge untapped market," Mallick said.

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"We will launch packaged local rice-based on regional preference. In Bengal, we will launch Baskati and miniket rice which is common here. Sona masuri in Uttar Pradesh and Kolam rice in South India," he added.

The company which hit the capital market recently had earmarked Rs 450-500 crore for acquisition and atta and rice is major focus area in the staples segment. Adani is scouting for more rice units and brands in North India and South India.

"We will ideally have one unit each in states first and then gradually scale up. We will procure paddy from farmers, mandis and brokers," Mallick said. Adani Wilmar has 22 own factories in total and has sourcing arrangement products from 28 more plants across the country.

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Staple contributes 11 percent to Adani Wilmar's topline while the rest is from edible oil and industry essentials. "We are aiming at 30 percent growth in the food segment and 6-7 percent in edible oil in volume terms," Mallick said.

The company was also looking at inorganic space to expand its food basket. The company reported a 66 percent rise in its Q3 consolidated net profit at Rs 211 crore as compared to Rs 127 crore in the year-ago quarter. The company's revenue from operations rose over 40 percent to Rs 14,379 crore from Rs 10,229 crore in the same quarter last year.

First Published:Mar 23, 2022 4:35 PM IST