AWL Agri Business, formerly called Adani Wilmar, is eyeing further acquisitions in categories such as pulses and spices in a bid to step up presence in the food vertical, its MD & CEO Angshu Mallick told FE in an interaction. Recently, it acquired GD Foods, the maker of the Tops brand of pickles and sauces, for an enterprise value of `603 crore.

Before the acquisition of Tops last month, the company had bought Omkar Chemicals for `56 crore in July 2024 to boost its presence in specialty chemicals. Omkar Chemicals is part of the industry essentials vertical and now contributes 10% to overall revenue of AWL Agri Business.

Mallick said that the company, which has unveiled a new logo to mark the shift in identity following the exit of the Adani Group from the firm, was keen on beefing up its food presence as it sought to double its revenue from the vertical in the next 3-4 years.

In FY25, the food and FMCG segment, which saw a year-on-year sales growth of 26%, crossed `6,000 crore, contributing 10% of its overall revenue. Edible oil (Fortune brand), which contributed over 85-90% to overall revenue a few years ago, has seen its share to topline come down to  around 80% as the firm eyes more FMCG segments for growth.

In the last two years, for instance, the food and FMCG business has doubled its revenue by tapping into the shift from unbranded to branded products as well as expanding distribution aggressively in urban and rural areas. 

“The focus for us will remain on branded staples and pulses. There is a huge runway for growth for us within these segments, given that they are essential to an Indian kitchen. Staples such as rice, wheat flour, pulses are sold in loose condition in many parts of India. Branded shares are hardly 8-10% at an overall level, giving us room for growth,” Mallick said.

Direct distribution, which is through 860,000 outlets for the company at the moment, will be expanded to about 1 million over the next few years, Mallick said. In FY25, he says, direct distribution grew 19% year-on-year while rural coverage crossed 50,000 towns at the same time,a ten-fold increase since FY22.

“There is a tremendous opportunity in rural markets from the perspective of packaged foods consumption. While the urban markets were weak in FY25, FY26 is expected to be better both for rural demand, thanks to the prediction of normal monsoons this year, and urban consumption, which is expected to stabilise with the fiscal stimulus measures announced by the government,” Mallick said.

Alternate channels generated over `3,600 crores in revenue in FY25, led by over 100% year-on-year growth in quick commerce volumes in Q4. This reflects the impact of focused improvements in assortment, availability, and promotional strategies, Mallick said.

The company’s focus on under-indexed markets also delivered strong results, with the south region, for instance, growing 25% year-on-year in FY25.