ABT forays into ready-to-cook products market

ABT Industries, part of the city-based Industrial Conglomerate Sakthi Group, forayed into the Ready to Cook (RTC) products category under the brand name ABT Foods, offering seven new instant mixes.
Manufacturers of Sakthi Ghee, the company is offering Rava idli mix, Rava Dosa mix, Rava upma mix, Pongal Mix, Payasam Mix, Gulab Jamun mix and Badam Milk mix, M Hariharasudhan, Executive Director, ABT Industries, told reporters here today.
The company has invested Rs 10 crore in this new business and the manufacturing plant at nearby Pollachi, in a sprawling 30 acres, has a capacity of 60 metric tones per month, which would be augmented in another year's time, depending on the demand for the products, he said.

RTC products has a market size of Rs 600 crore (barring noodles) and growing almost 20 per cent in volume and 25 per cent in value terms, he said, adding that it is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of around 20 to 25 per cent over the next five years.
In the first phase, the products will be launched in Tamil Nadu and Kerala and will be rolled out on pan India basis in the coming months and considering the popularity of its Ghee products, the company was expecting a business of Rs 10 crore from 12 Metros and four states in the first year of launch.

On future plans, Hariharasudhan said that there were 25 more products in the pipeline, besides ice creams and sweets.