Sahyadri sets up subsidiary to raise funds
The buzz at the lately held 12th periodic general meeting of Sahyadri Farmers Patron Company at the Sahyadri lot in Mohadi, Dindori, in Nashik was different this time. The planter patron company (FPO) has created a new attachment with an end to raise capital from overseas to gauge up their business. An IPO is also on the cards.
The horticulture- concentrated company has formerly entered the nonsupervisory blessing to hive off its post-harvest business division into a new commercial reality. The 100% subsidiary, Sahyadri granges Post-Harvest Care Limited, will house all the post-harvest business, including the processing business, retail, logistics, and new lines of business.
Vilas Vishnu Shinde, CMD at Sahyadri Farmers, said the attachment company, Sahyadri granges, raised €40 million (Rs310 crore) last month from a group of European impact investors who picked up 16.6% stake in the establishment, which was valued at Rs2,000 crore. Shinde added that Sahyadri would be going public with an IPO planned in the coming 3-4 times. This could be the first-of-its-kind table for planter patron companies.
Sahyadri is possessed by 731 growers with 681 growers directly retaining the company and the rest through 48 planter patron companies (FPCs). Shinde, a first- generation entrepreneur, and his family, own 52.8% in SFPC, 32.9% is held by small and borderline growers, and 14.3% by large growers and FPCs. The company’s FY22 earnings were at Rs785.7 crore, Ebitda at Rs66.4 crore, and net profit at Rs23 crore. Around 71% of earnings come from the Sahyadri granges Post Harvest Company and the company has set a profit target of Rs1,191 crore and Ebitda of Rs140 crore for FY23.
Sahyadri supplies to some big names similar as Hindustan Unilever (HUL), Tesco, BigBasket, Mother Dairy, Del Monte, Veeba, Reliance and Nature’s Basket. Sahyadri got into a contract manufacturing cooperation with Hindustan Unilever in 2019 for the Kissan range of products with product lines for ketchup, logjams, squash and potables. This has given them the confidence of making a incursion into the retail member with their own brand of value- added and ready- to- eat food products.
Sahyadri presently sources from Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. They will expand into Punjab, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and the North East. Multiple aviators are going on for a direct retail business and to supply directly to road merchandisers and retailers. “12 times of root, restructuring of operations and the recent backing will see Sahyadri get into a new growth phase,” Shinde said.
About Sahyadri Farms
Sahyadri is India’s largest integrated platform for fruits and vegetables. Company via its unique inclusive partnership with farmers has built a strong capability over the years in areas of primary processing of F&V, semi-processed products like frozen & aseptic; processed products like fruit jams; tomato ketchup; fruit beverages and F&V waste processing under an integrated zero discharge processing facility.
Sahyadri Farms began with the mission to ensure that the small-landholding farmers of India are given fair compensation for their produce and labour. This was to be achieved while ensuring that we adhere to global standards of agricultural practices, world-class infrastructure, international food safety standards, and the will to deliver safe, hygienic, and healthy food to our consumers.
Sowing the Seeds of Success
“Alone we can do little; together we can do so much”. With this as their belief, four smallholder farmers led by Mr Vilas Shinde took their first steps on a long and purposeful journey. What started as an informal understanding between these smallholder farmers quickly transformed into a movement of farmers which has grown today into the leading fruits & vegetable export company from India servicing over 18,000 registered farmers that cover 31,000 acres and 9 crops.
Sahyadri’s vision was clear: To build people, processes and practices to enable and empower smallholder Indian farmers to compete with the best by cultivating the highest quality fresh produce. Since its inception, Sahyadri remains fully committed to helping farmers overcome the barriers to finance, technology adoption and product value addition. In time, Sahyadri’s self-contained infrastructure encompassed an agro-advisory team, a world-class pack-house, cold storage facility and a technology backbone to help achieve scale meaningfully. Soon enough, Sahyadri Farms became a hub of value addition by building and operating an agri-value chain that was efficient, expedient and innovative.
While building Sahyadri Farms, there was an acute realisation that post-harvest losses not only imply wastage of food but also represent a colossal waste of human labour, agri-inputs, financial investments and scarce resources like water. The ultra-modern campus of Sahyadri Farms helps farmers access the latest technology and processing infrastructure, follow global best practices and offer the highest quality fresh and processed products to discerning consumers globally. Circa 2022, we have just begun. Clearly, our best is yet to come.