MDH to enter ready-to-eat food segment

Known for blended spices, Delhi-based MDH plans to enter into the ready-to-eat food segment by offering continental cuisine such as noodles, pasta and vermicelli off its shelf. For this, the company plans to invest Rs 50 crore, reports Nidhi Sharma in Mumbai.

���Unlike companies that currently offer more Indian dishes, we prefer to tap the continental food segment,��� RK Gupta, executive director, MDH, told ET.

In the event of further funds requirement, added Mr Gupta, the company could explore options such as a private equity infusion, bank finance and even an IPO.

The Rs 300-crore masala maker sells its products across India and exports them to 47 countries.

Commenting on prospects in ready-to-eat food category, Mr Gupta said potential was good considering changing food habits of the population, emergence of a greater number of nuclear families and reduced time available for cooking.

MDH has five plants spread across Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan and a total grinding capacity of 30 tonnes per day of spices. It plans to scale up this capacity by 25-30% this year for which it will invest close to Rs 10 crore.

���We have good demand which cannot be met by our present capacity. We will increase the grinding capacity by adding additional machines,��� Mr Gupta said.