Harrisons Malayalam set for diversification

Harrisons Malayalam Ltd (HML), the integrated agriculture player which is part of the RPG group, is mulling entry into the fruit juice segment in a year’s time. The company produces pineapple and passion fruit at its plantations in Kerala and is evaluating branching out into fruit juice.

“We are looking at fruit juice as a value addition to our products. Since we have pineapple and passion fruit in our fold, we might start with them,” said Pankaj Kapoor, MD of Harrisons Malayalam. The company is yet to finalise details on investment but is likely to utilise its existing facilities in Coimbatore for production.

HML cultivates around 14,000 ha of which rubber, tea and pineapple are its main products. It produces around 9,000 tonnes of rubber, 20,000 tonnes of tea and 25,000 tonnes of pineapple. It produces close to 400 tonnes of passion fruit. Its operations are spread across 20 estates, eight rubber factories and 12 tea factories along with a number of blending and processing units in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

“There is a lot of competition in the pure juice segment. We are thinking of producing blended juices, which is a blend of two fruits like pineapple and passion fruit,” said Kapoor. The company only caters to the domestic market for its fruits at present but it is looking to expand its pineapple variety to enter export markets.

Market estimates are that the total fruit juice and fruit-based juice market in India is around Rs 1,500 crore where major players include Tropicana, Dabur, Godrej and Parle Agro.

The tea plantation business is the major revenue segment for the company netting around Rs 190 crore. HML has just launched a premium tea brand, Harrisons Select, to tap the premium tea segment.

It presently sells through brands like Harrison’s Gold, Mountain Mist, Surya and Spencer’s. In the next three years, it plans to invest around Rs 40 crore in re-planting trees at its plantations and upgrade its tea facilities.

RPG group owns a majority stake in HML at 51 per cent, a foreign investor holds 20 per cent while the rest is held by the public.

The company posted a turnover of Rs 292 crore in March 2009 and is expected to touch Rs 350 crore in revenues in March 2010.