Retail pioneer Kishore Biyani-led Future Consumer Ltd said on Friday it has formed a joint venture with a local unit of US organic food company Hain Celestial Group Inc. to make food items in the health and wellness category.
The Future Group company and Tilda Hain India Pvt Ltd will hold an equal stake in the joint venture, which will make snacks, plant-based beverages and food products for toddlers and kids.
The joint venture will provide Hain Celestial with a distribution platform for its organic food items under the brands Terra, Garden of Eatin’, Sensible Portions, Dream and Earth’s Best.
The two partners can nominate three directors each on the board of the JV company, Future Consumer said in a stock-exchange filing.
Irwin D. Simon, CEO at Hain Celestial, said Tilda Hain managing director Rajnish Ohri and his team will work together with Future Group to grow distribution of Hain’s brands and products in India.
Future Consumer offers a range of brands and products that includes Tasty Treat (processed food), Nilgiris (dairy and bakery), Sunkist (beverages), Swiss Tempelle (personal care), Kara (beauty-on-the-go) and CleanMate (home care).
It has manufacturing facilities at Tumkur in Karnataka, and sourcing and processing facilities across the country. It also operates joint ventures with Migros Group of Switzerland and Aussie Oats in Sri Lanka, and has a licensing partnership with Sunkist Growers from California, US.
The company distributes its products through multiple retail chains such as Future Group’s Big Bazaar, EasyDay, Heritage and Nilgiris outlets as well as Metro Cash & Carry and Tesco Star Bazaar.
The Future Group unit has struck several takeover and partnership deals to expand its operations. Last November, the group entered the wholesale business by tying up with the UK-based Booker Group.
Earlier that month, it had acquired the retail and allied businesses of Hyderabad-based Heritage Foods Ltd.
Future Group, the second-biggest brick-and-mortar retailer after billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Retail Ltd, had earlier bought Big Apple and Bharti Retail. It also purchased Nilgiri’s, a South India-based chain, in November 2014.
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