Veeba Foods forays into child nutrition space; sets up factory in Rajasthan

Veeba Foods on Sunday announced its entry into the Rs 7,000-crore child nutrition segment and said it has set up a facility in Rajasthan to produce health beverages for kids.

The Gurugram-based company has roped in Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan to promote its newly-launched brand V-Nourish, its founder and MD Viraj Bahl said.

Bahl also exuded confidence that the company would capture 5 per cent of this market in the first year itself.

"We are entering into child nutrition segment that has great potential. The health beverages for children has been launched under a new brand V-Nourish," he told PTI.

Veeba Foods, which sells many food products like tomato sauces and mayonnaise to both B2B and B2C markets under the Veeba brand, has set up a new 10-acre plant at Keshwana in Rajasthan to manufacture the child health beverage product.

To market V-Nourish, Bahl said the company has "signed Shah Rukh Khan for two years" but did not disclose the endorsement fee.

Bahl said the market size of health beverages for kids is estimated at about Rs 7,000 crore, out of which the premium segment is growing at 12 per cent year-on-year and is dominated by brands like Horlicks and Bournvita.

He said the company is targeting to capture 5 per cent market in the next one year.

"We have launched this product after lot of scientific research. V-Nourish is a wholesome nutrition supplement for kids above 5 years," Bahl said.

Asked about the total revenue of Veeba Foods, Bahl declined to share the numbers but said it is in three digits and growing by an average of 40 per cent annually since inception in 2013.

The company spends 10-12 per cent of its revenue in marketing and advertising.