In iD Fresh Food’s international expansion, it will open six factories with an investment of Rs. 12 crore each. The first facility will be established in a year. Last year, as part of phase one of its international expansion, iD Fresh entered the US and UK markets with its coffee products, which were later followed by paranthas. Now, as part of the third phase, it will set up factories in both countries.
PC Musthafa, CEO and co-founder of iD Fresh Food, said, “Overall, we plan to set up six factories—three in the US, one in the UK, one in Singapore, and one in Saudi Arabia.” These would be similar to our Delhi factory.” Earlier this month, the company expanded to north India with its 15,000 sq. ft factory in Haryana. Currently, it operates five factories in Delhi, Dubai, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad.
The company says that for running a fresh food business, local manufacturing facilities are essential. He said, “As we expanded our delivery base, we used to airlift from Bombay to Delhi, then shifted to trains, only to realise their lack of viability.” That’s the reason behind setting up local manufacturing facilities.
In spite of facing the strongest competition in the UAE, Musthafa claims that the UAE business is doing fairly well. “We compete with around 24 players in the wet bat segment.” Over the last three years, the business has grown, and today it accounts for one-third of our overall sales. The company posted revenues of Rs. 419 crores in FY22 and is expected to generate Rs. 600 crores in FY23.
The success in the UAE market is due to the combination of three factors: well-established last-mile storage, a higher acceptance level for packaged food, and consumers’ willingness to pay more for a product.