Modern Food plans to re-enter Delhi market in next one year

Mumbai: Bread maker Modern Food Enterprises is planning to re-enter the Delhi market in next one year, either organically or through acquisitions, a top company executive said on Friday.

"We are not present in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana. In the next 12 months, we should be entering (these markets). The opportunity can exist in an acquisition, a joint venture or we may decide to do it ourselves," firm's chief executive officer Aseem Soni said.

Global private equity player Everstone acquired Modern Food from FMCG major Hindustan Unilever in 2015, and had exited several markets, including Delhi.

"Delhi is one of the largest markets and we are not there. Once upon a time Modern used to be the number one brand in Delhi. We are looking at the central and northern parts of India where we are not present the way we should be," he said.

The company clocked a turnover of Rs 270 crore last fiscal and is eyeing a growth of 25 per cent in the current financial year.

Soni, who is also a board member, said the company is targeting a revenue of Rs 1,000 crore by 2021 and also planning to enhance its non-bread portfolio, which it expects would contribute one-third of the revenue by then.

Currently, the firm's non-bread portfolio is present mainly in the southern market and contributes around 7-7.5 per cent of the turnover.

"Modern, we feel, somewhere has the right to play in the bakery category. Longer shelf-life products like cakes, muffins, cream-filled things, for that we are setting up a new vertical within the organization. By the end of this year, we will have a very exciting portfolio," he said.

"Cakes and rusks are definitely the category we will enter. I don't think we want to play in the biscuit and cookies segment as of now," he added.