45 year brand Annapoorna masala spices unveils new identity and growth plans
Chennai, September 4, 2020: Annapoorna Masalas and Spices, a 45-year-old brand established in 1975 has today announced ‘Annapoorna 2.0’, a new growth roadmap for the brand that will enable it to consolidate its position as a pioneer and leading player in the fast-growing, FMCG industry estimated to be Rs. 7,21,000 crores by 2020 of which the Food and Beverages segment account for Rs. 1,36,990 crores. At a virtual press meet held today, the family-run company’s Executive Director and third generation entrepreneur Vijay Prasad, who is spearheading the makeover, unveiled Annapoorna’s new corporate identity including the logo, tagline, product packaging and marketing collaterals, as a first step in the transformation journey ahead. Vijay Prasad said the refreshed look and feel with the brand promise of ‘The taste that unites’, signals a new chapter for the company, while retaining its rich heritage and family roots. “We believe that food unites people and culture from across regions and India’s rich, traditional spices are what sets apart our cuisine.”
In its new avatar, the company plans to expand its current product portfolio of 53 products and 101 SKUs to over 80 products in the next 3 years. Annapoorna will take a hitherto differentiated approach to enable this growth, by not only covering the entire gamut of pure and blended spices but more importantly by deep-diving into India’s rich food heritage and culture, to revive recipes that are unique to small regions across the country and widen its offering to new, innovative subcategories. The company’s 35,000 sq. ft manufacturing plant located at Coimbatore has a capacity of 35 metric tonnes per day and is well equipped to support the brand’s ambitious growth plans.
Annapoorna is on its way to strengthen its current retail and distribution network to 500 distributors in the next one year. To begin with, Annapoorna will penetrate its stronghold across the Tamil Nadu market to cover over 50,000 outlets across cities, towns and villages. This will be followed by geographical expansion to other neighbouring states in the region.
Speaking at the press meet Vijay Prasad said, “We have a rich legacy, a strong business and a clear roadmap for growth by building among the best food brands in the category, right here out of Tamil Nadu. We have grown from strength to strength in the last four decades and have consistently evolved to cater to changing consumer preferences and market demands. Our new brand identity reflects our rich lineage to cater to future demands. A big part of our plan of action will be to invest in our R&D and products, combined with our people and a strong distributor and retail partner network. We have also put strategies in place and invested in a specialised brand strategy team to initiate brand building activities. We have successfully created innovative packaging designs for our products and wish to establish a strong digital presence through different media vehicles that serve various audience segments. The combinations of media mix have been planned for execution to achieve the company's campaign goals and reach more homes across the country. Our top-line sales today is worth 40 Crore and we look to increase this to 200 Crore in the next three years. We are also committed to sourcing ingredients locally from regional farmers.
About Annapoorna: Since its inception in the 1975’s, Coimbatore based Annapoorna has been at the forefront of innovatively adapting to changing market needs and demands by introducing spices and blends, that have been lapped up with much enthusiasm for its unique flavour and taste that it brings to food. Founded by Shri. K. Damodaraswamy Naidu & led by R. Velumani from the 1980s, Annapoorna is the epitome of rich and strong traditional values, as much as its recipes. Today, Annapoorna is led by third-generation family entrepreneur Vijay Prasad in his role as Executive Director. The company has close to 101 SKUs of pure and blended spices and is available across all cities and towns in Tamil Nadu at present. Its state-of-the-art manufacturing plant is located at Vadavalli near Coimbatore and it employs close to 400 people across Manufacturing, R&D, Marketing and Sales.