Chennai
J Ramesh, Joint MD, PUF, said, “As Kalimark is a family business, third parties can’t be brought over as investors. Moreover, Kalimark had been dealing only with beverages at this point. As part of our diversification, the new entity, which can include a third party, will concentrate on manufacturing and distribution of food-oriented items. We will be introducing new products in the juice segment to coincide with Tamil New Year’s Day. We expect in the coming year, the new corn rava offering should yield us a turnover of Rs 10 cr.”
KPR Dhanushkodi, Chairman, Kalimark Group Companies said, “We are looking to tap the corn cultivated in Tamil Nadu. Over 5 lakh hectares of agricultural lands come under this crop with a yield of over 25 lakh tonnes. This will be our contribution to the farmers of the State.”
With respect to the beverage market, right now, the company is supplying its products to Kerala, Karnataka and AP. Ramesh says, “We are currently scouting for some factories and have identified a few units in Mumbai, which will be operational in two months. After that, we will kickstart our soft drink manufacturing there in full scale. The production facility in Sri City will start by the end of the month, which will help our expansion outside TN.”
He adds, “In TN, we have two factories for the PET bottles and five factories for the glass bottling. However, the latter is low in demand now as no one is interested in returning the empties. So, we will be moving into a fully PET based business soon. This year, we launched a 200 ml PET version to cater to markets dominated by the glass variants.”
Talking about the potential for growth of the cola market, he says, “The soft drink market was growing by 27 per cent. Last year, it dropped because of tax issues. This year, we are looking at better returns. Next year, we are expecting to hit the Rs 400 cr mark, with 15 to 20 per cent growth.”
Known for its flagship brand Bovonto, Kali Aerated Water Works (P) Ltd, in 2016 had rebranded its Panneer Soda as Vibro. As of now, 75 per cent of the shareholding stake in PUF is held by members from the Kalimark family. Currently, the family business is being run by the fourth generation that has expanded into food space with PUF.
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