AVT Natural UK subsidiary to start operations by Oct
AVT Natural Products Ltd is setting up a wholly-owned subsidiary in the United Kingdom to support its plans to expand market for decaffeinated and instant tea through a cost-efficient supply chain.
The company, which into solvent extraction of marigold oleoresins, spice oils and tea, has a subsidiary in Singapore and a stepdown subsidiary in China.
It has received clearances from the relevant authorities in London and plans are to commence operations of the marketing subsidiary in October, said MSA Kumar, managing director.
“The wholly-owned subsidiary would initially support us to serve customers in the UK and rest of Europe,” said Kumar.
Over a period of time, the company plans to expand operations through the UK subsidiary, AVT Tea Services Ltd, globally. It would then supply decaffeinated and instant tea in Japan and some of the countries in the Asia Pacific region, he added.
It is also planning to increase utilisation of existing capacity for these products. At present, of the around 6,000-tonne capacity in its Kochi facility, around 50 per cent is utilised. This is expected to go up to 80 per cent in the next three years.
Besides, it would increase the capacity to 7,000 tonne by this December with an investment of around Rs 8 crore. The Kochi facility is a 100 per cent export-oriented unit. The company is catering to the requirements of the decaffeinated and instant tea industry and has no direct-to-customer business in exports.
Through its Singapore subsidiary, AVT Natural Pte Ltd, it has set up its China subsidiary, Heilongjiang AVT Bio-Products Ltd, which is for sales of marigold oleoresins. The subsidiary recorded around three-fold growth in sales to Rs 25.66 crore in 2011 as against Rs 8.61 crore in 2010.
In 2011-12, the company posted revenues of Rs 218 crore as against Rs 139 crore registered during the previous financial year.