Venky & #39;S Plans New Products In Spread Plan

Poultry major Venky's India has embarked on a programme to expand and upgrade its capacity of ready-to-cook chicken products and plans to get into large scale contract farming.

Also on the anvil are plans to introduce new curry-based ready-to-cook chicken dishes and other desi chicken products such as chicken kababs and tandooris.

The expansion plan, coupled with better realisation of chicken and lower maize prices, is expected to increase revenues by 25 per cent in the current year.

"We are getting into forward integration to sell more live birds instead of selling day-old chicks by roping in farmers to grow broiler chicken," said Milind Kulkarni, chief financial officer of Venkateshwara Hatcheries.

The company will provide all inputs to farmers, including medicines, day-old chicks and the feed, and buy back the entire output which will be marketed under the Venky's brand name.

Currently, Venky's India grows two lakh broiler chicks from in-house facility per month and sells them either as dressed chicken, chicken kheema or boneless chicken, and also in the form of ready-to-eat chicken.

"The processed chicken sale will increase to eight lakh broiler birds per month from two lakh birds per month once contract farming begins," Kulkarni said.

In the current year, Venky's India is investing Rs 1.5 crore to upgrade and add balancing equipment to increase the capacity of the ready-to-eat chicken processing plant in Kamshet, near Pune.

Venky's is a dominant supplier of chicken products to Dominos Pizza, Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fry Chicken and other fast-food restaurants. Demand from these fast-food restaurants is growing by more than 100 per cent.

Meanwhile, Venky's India has started commercial operations of its 60,000 tonne per annum solvent extraction plat set up at Solapur in Maharashtra. The company's edible oil refinery will enable to produce 12,000 tonne per annum.

...to give 1:3 bonus

Our Correspondent in Pune

The board of directors of Venky's India has announced the issue of "silver jubilee" bonus shares in the ratio of one equity share for every three equity shares held.

In fiscal 2000-2001, Venky's India posted a 8.79 per cent rise in turnover to Rs 224.65 crore (Rs 206.49 crore), while net profit shot up by 58.24 per cent to Rs 8.64 crore (Rs 5.46 crore). The board has decided to maintain its dividend at 40 per cent.