Orkla India looking for partnerships with local spice players: CEO Sanjay Sharma

MTR Foods and Eastern Condiments’ parent company Orkla India is looking for partnerships with local spice and masala players to further strengthen its local presence and dominance in India’s spices market, said a top executive of the company.
Talking to ETRetail, Sanjay Sharma, CEO, Orkla India said, “We are open to new partnerships. Spices and masalas is an exciting category and we are looking out for partnering with more local players.”
Orkla, a Norwegian investment company, entered India back in 2007 when it acquired MTR Foods. In September 2020, the company acquired a majority stake in the Meeran family-run Eastern Condiments.
Last year Orkla restructured its India operations with three business units-MTR, Eastern and international business. MTR brings about 48 per cent of revenues followed by Eastern at 34 per cent and international business at 18 per cent.
“Our international segment is the fastest growing and continues to develop rapidly,” Sharma said.
Expanding more on its international business, he shared that the foods major has identified 9 key markets across the world that drive the majority of its business. Middle East brings 70 per cent of Orkla India’s international sales followed by North America. Going forward, the company is exploring UK and 4-5 new markets in the Middle East.
In July this year, Nils Selte, president and CEO at Orkla told investors that the company has initiated an IPO readiness study for Orkla India business. “We initiated a process to consider structural opportunities for Orkla India, including conducting an IPO readiness study. The results of the study are encouraging. And we will now proceed with an evaluation of accessing the capital markets in India. Any conclusion should not be expected until sometime 2025,” Selte had said.
Source: Indiatimes