News on Chips and Snacks from India

PepsiCo India is looking to enhance potato procurement through its tie-up with farmers in Chittoor district, Andhra Pradesh.

As growth slows down and intense competition emerges from regional brands in potato chips, PepsiCo and ITC are shifting their focus more towards newer and healthier forms of packaged snacks, the market for which is growing at twice the speed.

Balaji, one of the largest regional potato chips and snacks brands in India, will soon move into the production of French fries and other frozen potato specialty products, according to Chandu Virani, MD of Balaji Wafers.

The Kolhapur-based Sanjay Ghodawat Group, which has interests in a number of sectors including fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), will soon foray into the food and beverage market with the launch of the snack brand, Star555.

India’s government is seeking help from an unlikely partner to feed millions of its hungriest children: PepsiCo Inc, the world’s largest snack maker.

Earlier this month, the inaugural ceremony took place of Fryo's state of the art potato chips line built by Dutch equipment manufacturer Kiremko

Rajkot-based Balaji Wafers Private Limited is in process of increasing its production capacity of its plant in Rajkot by 50 percent.

Indian snacks maker Balaji Wafers Private Limited is now preparing to come out with an initial public offering (IPO) to raise fund for its future expansions. The company that was in talks with private equity (PE) funds to sell stake, has dropped the idea of stake sale for now.

Fries, chips and flakes manufacturers in India are concerned over firm prices of potato, which has seen a jump owing to poor crop this year. Companies assure that an increase in retail price was unlikely to take place in the short run.

ITC Ltd's operating profit from its fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) business excluding cigarettes jumped three-and-a-half times to Rs 43 crore during the January-March quarter from Rs 11.87 crore in the corresponding period a year ago

Balaji Wafers Pvt. Ltd is in advanced talks with Capital International Private Equity Funds (CIPEF) to sell nearly 15% in the snacks maker according to two people familiar with the development, who did not want to be named.

The continued accumulation of heavy frost on plants for the past few days is feared to have damaged 75% of the tomato crop in the district of Karnal, while potato growers may have suffered losses over 20%.

PepsiCo Inc, the maker of Pepsi-Cola, Frito-Lay snacks and Tropicana juice, plans to invest $5.5 billion in India by 2020 to expand its presence in the country, it said on Monday.

Food &beverages giant PepsiCo India is believed to have backed out of the race to buy a stake in Rajkot-based Balaji Wafers.

The Central Potato Research Institute (CPRI) in Shimla, India's premier potato research institute, has evolved a new technology to prevent conversion of starch into glucose in low temperature conditions, like cold storages.

PepsiCo Inc., the world’s largest snack-food maker, is among suitors exploring a bid for India’s Balaji Wafers Pvt as it pushes to sell more chips in developing countries, said two people familiar with the matter.

Indian snack maker Balaji Wafers is in separate talks with private-equity funds, including Blackstone Group and Actis, to raise between $100 million and $125 million.

PepsiCo and Mondelez, along with their Indian counterparts ITC and Britannia, have been approached for a stake of Balaji Wafers - a 37-year-old india based wafer (potato chip), namkeen and savoury brand that dominates a number of states in western India.