With an increase in the demand of the convenience food market, Vegit, an agro division of Merino Industries and a ready-to-cook player plans to increase its retail presence by 25 percent and take its store count to 6,250 stores from its current 5,000 stores pan India. It is currently present in 20 cities and will expand its foorprint to 10 more cities.
The company also plans to boost its production capacity of potato flakes plant in Hapur, Uttar Pradesh from its current 8,000 metric tonnes to 12,000 metric tonnes with an overall expansion of 50 percent in 2014-15.
Vegit will also increase its product portfolio by adding new variants of snack mixes to its current product range of 9 snack mixes and taking the count to 15. Vegit products are available across general and modern trade outlets, mom-and-pop stores, hypermarkets and supermarkets across the city.
Speaking on the Occasion, Prakash Lohia, Director, Vegit – Agro Division, Merino Industries, said: “We at Vegit always provide convenient and healthy foods to our customers. Since inception, we have reached out to our consumers with quality and healthy food mixes, giving a touch of flavor to them with no time. We understood that the demand of ready to cook food market in India is growing, as more and more people are imbibed with the ready to cook concept. Therefore, with the concept to reach to maximum number of consumers in India, we are expanding our product portfolio as well as the capacity.”
Merino Industries claims to be the largest provider of potato storage and processing facilities in the Indian market. With an increase in the production capacity, the company will raise up its raw potato processing annually to 75,000 metric tonnes from current 50,000 metric tonnes to get 12,000 metric tonnes of potato flakes.
Founded in 1968, the Merino Group is a US$ 165 million group exporting to 60 countries.
