Future Consumer targets 50% growth by next year

Firm going for tie-ups, plans to roll out products in a host of new categories

Future Consumer (FCL), part of the Kishore Biyani-led Future group, is planning to launch products in a host of new categories next year. It aims to take on FMCG majors and targets 50 per cent growth by next year.

To expand its products as well as brand portfolio, the company is planning to get into a slew of partnerships with FMCG firms, similar to the ones it has with United Biscuits, maker of McVities, among others.

The company claims to have hit gold in a number of categories. It launched Karmiq, a Future Consumer brand two years back, and is slated to register ~1.25 billion in sales this year from dry fruits alone.

The brand has been able to clock over ~80 million sales every month and creating a new category is helping it grow at over 100 per cent year-on-year.

“The response has been great in the numerous categories that we have got into. We have played a different strategy and believe we are FMCG 2.0. We have to create new categories and identify brands so that we can provide consistent offerings. We have been identifying categories and bringing out products, such as wafer biscuits. After launch, these products have become such a success that other FMCG companies are now coming up with different products. Also, packaging dry fruits in smaller- sized packs has helped create another category. We will have category introductions and also be announcing alliances with FMCG firms,” said Ashni Biyani, managing director, FCL.

She added that FCL has grown over 40 per cent year-onyear and would continue to grow at that rate. “In fact, we will try and reach 50 per cent growth in the coming financial year,” she added.

FCL has over 27 brands in different categories, including food, home and personal care as well as staple foods.

The company sells its products primarily through Big Bazaar, Easyday and Nilgiris, the retail chains that are part of the group’s Future Retail. FCL hopes that its products would soon constitute almost 70 per cent of all foods sold at Future group outlets.

The company hopes to achieve a growth of 50 per cent year-on-year on the back of around 1,300 outlets the Future group has all over the country. FCL has been able to expand its numerous brands and make them relevant throughout the country with the help of this footprint.

Overall, the group plans to earn revenue of ~1,000 billion by 2021-22 of which ~2 billion (by 2021) would be from Future Consumer. By then, it also hopes to open around 450 Big Bazaar stores as well as 8,000 small formats stores.