Adani Wilmar, which markets cooking oils and other food items under the Fortune brand, said it will sell branded sugar in northern market to expand its portfolio.
Apart from edible oils, the company sells besan, wheat flour, basmati rice, pulses, soya chunks and ready-to-cook items.
"Sugar was an obvious choice as we proceed towards increasing the width and depth of our food business. We believe that sugar will add a lot of value to Fortune as a brand and enable us to become a complete food company," said Angshu Mallick, Deputy CEO, Adani Wilmar.
Adani Wilmar launched Fortune Sugar in the eastern states of West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, and some parts of Uttar Pradesh in May, and plans to launch in North India next month, the company said in a statement.
"We will have a facility in Delhi in July which will cater to the entire north Indian market. We also have more capacities coming up in Haldia and Kandla," said Mallick.
India is the second-largest producer of sugar and it is also the world''s largest consumer with consumption of 27.5 million tonnes per annum. The per capita consumption of sugar in India is estimated at 18 kg per year, even higher than that of edible oil which is estimated at 16.5 litres a year.
According to the Indian Sugar Mills Association & NSSO data, household sugar consumption is 11-12 million tonnes per annum, of which only 3 per cent is branded. In comparison, the share of branded products in edible oil segment is 50-55 per cent and more than 10 per cent in Atta.
"Branded sugar market is still in a nascent stage in India. However, it is growing at a CAGR of 8% as more people are opting for branded sugar due to the fear that loose sugar may contain dust or other foreign material and may also have been touched by multiple people. We also see a lot of opportunity for Fortune Sugar through Modern Trade and E-commerce channels," said Mallick.
Adani Wilmar Limited (AWL) is a joint venture incorporated in January 1999 between Adani Group- the leaders in private infrastructure - and Wilmar International Limited - Singapore, Asia''s leading Agri business group.
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