ID Fresh Food to enter north India

Ready-to-cook food company iD Fresh Food, which dominates the market for idli and dosa batter in the south, is looking to enter the north Indian market — starting with Delhi and Kolkata — by early next year. The expansion is in line with the Premji Invest-backed company’s goal to reach ~10 billion in revenues within the next five years. “For now, we will use our existing manufacturing units in Hyderabad and Mumbai to cater to the markets in north India,” said P C Musthafa, founder and CEO of iD Fresh Food. Both these plants have a production capacity of 50,000 kg batter per day.

Besides Mumbai and Hyderabad, iD Fresh has production units in Bengaluru, Chennai, as well as Dubai, which serve the UAE market. The Dubai plant will also start supplying to the Oman and Saudi Arabia markets by the end of this financial year.

“We are also in talks to enter developed markets such as the US and the UK, as we think our products will be well-accepted by the large Indian diaspora in those countries. Hopefully, this may happen by end of FY20,” added Musthafa.

According to a Market Research Future report, the Indian ready-to-cook food market was at $233 million in 2013, and is projected to reach $755 million by the end of 2022, registering a compound annual growth rate of 14 per cent. Starting with a small kitchen in Indiranagar area of Bengaluru with a meagre ~50,000 as seed capital, iD Fresh today reaches over 100,000 homes with its products that have a shelf life of up to seven days.

The journey, says Musthafa, however has not been that easy. Back in 2015, the company struggled even to sell 100 packets of batter per day. Today, iD Fresh is whipping up enough batter for 1 million idlis every day. The company’s vada batter segment, introduced earlier this year, is expected to generate revenue of ~1 billion alone, by the next financial year.

Among other ready-tocook products, while parotas and chapatis are big sales drivers, iD Fresh is now looking to sell decoction for filter coffee. “The preservation-free filter coffee decoction will come in sachets for single serving and a pack of 10,” said Musthafa.

He says the firm still has not been able to crack the formula for packaged coconut chutney, which would complement iD’s batter business very well. “Our product is our hero. When the whole world is investing in R&D to extend the life of the product, we have a business model to sell fresh,” adds Musthafa.