Ready-to-cook packaged food maker iD Fresh Food (India) Pvt. Ltd has issued its seventh Esop (employee stock option plan) tranche worth Rs 46 crore for its 27 employees, the company said on Thursday
iD Fresh Food has granted around Rs 300 crore worth of Esops to employees across different functions since 2016.
The company said 54% of the Esops offered to date are to junior management. Two recipients of the current round serve the company as a driver and a helper.
“Our latest Esop grant is a small effort to thank them for their valuable contribution. In the coming months, we are excited to augment our 2,000+ workforce as we explore new markets and continue to create new opportunities for a diverse set of professionals, while actively creating a more inclusive workplace,” said PC Musthafa, co-founder, chief executive officer, iD Fresh Food.
He added, “Our aspiration is to help create a minimum of 100 ‘crorepatis’ (millionaires) in the next 3 years by offering high-value shares at Rs 10 apiece, attracting the best talent from the market and retain/reward the existing ones.”
iD said it is also focusing on hiring new talent from smaller towns and villages.
Founded in 2005 by five cousins—PC Musthafa, Abdul Nazer, Shamsudeen TK, Jafar TK, and Noushad TA, iD Fresh Food retails to more than 30,000 offline outlets across India, UAE and US. The company offers batter for delicacies and ready-to-cook breads, from Southern India.
Startups frequently use Esops to attract talent. Recently, several firms have announced Esop buybacks as a way to reward their workforce.
In January, iD secured Rs 507 crore (around $64 million) in a Series D round, which also provided a secondary exit to Helion Venture Partners, one of the early backers of the brand. The company’s existing investor PremjiInvest has also participated in this round.
In 2017, the consumer company secured a funding from PremjiInvest, the private investment firm of Wipro Ltd chairman Azim Premji. Helion had backed the company in 2014 with an investment of Rs 35 crore.
Last year, the company launched the world’s largest idli-dosa factory at Anekal in Karnataka with a capex investment of close to Rs 50 crore. Its fully-automated Giant Kitchen produces over 1 lakh kg batter and three lakh parotas per day.