DSM Fresh Foods Ltd, the parent company of fresh meat food brand, Zappfresh, is continuing to scout for strategic acquisition opportunities, as it aims to diversify its food play. The company recently forayed into the frozen vegetarian snack category with the launch of its brand, Meevaa Foods with a focus on domestic and international markets.
In January, it had announced that it is acquiring Ambrosia Frozen Food’s operating food processing business through Avyom Foodtech.
Deepanshu Manchanda, MD, DSM Fresh Foods told businessline, “Our vision is to offer a basket of products in the fresh meat, frozen, ready-to-cook and eat segments. We want to diversify into value-added, adjacent categories that have high margins . Hence, we are planning to continue to look at more acquisitions that are value accretive and compliment our existing portfolio.” The company is looking at inorganic growth opportunities in categories such as frozen food products, ready-to-cook and eat as well as spices among others.
With the launch of Meevaa Foods, the company is strengthening its play in ready-to-cook and eat products. “Our recent acquisition in the frozen and processed foods segment enabled us to fast-track our diversification vision, allowing us to bring our frozen food range to market within few weeks. With Meevaa Foods, we want to cater to a wider base of consumer beyond non-vegetarian food space and diversify our presence into international markets. While we will deepen the brand’s India distribution, we are also tapping into markets such as the US, UK and Europe,” he added.
New products
Manchanda said that the company will keep rolling out new products to rapidly grow Meevaa Foods. “ In this fiscal year, we are targeting revenues of ₹70 crore from the frozen category in the new subsidiary,” he added.
In terms of overall distribution expansion, the company is looking at deepening presence in Southern and Western regions. “ India is a protein-deficient market. Consumption of meat and fish is rising by 10-15 per cent. So this category is also expanding in its penetration led by organised players. We will continue to build our protein portfolio,” he added.