Parle to be a Rs 200-bn company in 5 years, eyes pan India presence

Biscuits and confectionery maker Parle Products is aiming to double its turnover and cross Rs 20,000 crore in the next five years, said, top officials.

The company also expects the staples and snacks segments to be its growth drivers in the coming years, they added.

"We are at least looking at, by 2023-24 to double our turnover from here," Parle Products Category Head Mayank Shah told PTI.

Parle Products, which is a privately held company, has a present turnover of Rs 10,000 crore plus, he added.

Shah further said: "This growth would be mostly going through the organic way rather than acquisitions."

As part of its growth strategy, the company is expanding its product portfolio, aiming to be a total food company, by filling up gaps in its offering.

"Eventually, we are looking at several other categories and whenever and wherever there are opportunities, we would grow into a total food company," he said.

The company has got into snacks, bakery items like cakes and rusks and ventured into staples such as pulses. It is present in the premium chocolate segment.

Parle Products is now tapping both - retail as well as institutional markets as hotels, which buys in bulks through its innovative offerings as Zeera Jeffs biscuit.

"While we consolidated our biscuits and confectionery portfolio we felt that was not very innovative. In the last couple of decades, we have made movements as a whole food company rather than as a company which has only couples of line," said Parle Products Category Head B Krishna Rao.

Parle Products which has ventured into staples segment by launching pulses six months back, plans to increase its offerings and distribution.

Presently, in pulses, Parle is present in two states- Maharashtra and Karnataka in five segments - arhar daal, Chanal, masoor, urad and moong daal.

"Pulses is a big opportunity and its a future for us," he said adding gradually Parle would expand its presence to a pan India level.

"There is a trend to buy more packed item. Moreover, people have become more sensitive towards quality and issue of adulteration, which is the biggest problem," he said adding that there is a trend of conversion of unorganized to the branded segment.

The company is expecting contribution from its Platina range to grow too.

"We are targeting one-fourth of total sales coming in next one and a half years," said Shah who handles management, advertising and promotions for biscuits and chocolates for the company.

Besides, it also expects the contribution from its Platina range of premium products to go up by 25 per cent in next three years in the biscuits segment, which presently adds 65 per cent of its total fold.

Platina handles its four premium brands as Hide & Seek Milano, Mexitos and Simply Good.