Bengaluru/Mumbai: The battle for South India’s spice and packaged foods market is heating up, with Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting and the Murugappa Group vying for Kerala-based packaged foods brand Double Horse. The development reflects the ongoing consolidation in India's regional packaged foods industry, as consumer goods companies prefer acquisitions to building brands from scratch.
Manjilas Food Tech Pvt. Ltd, which owns Double Horse, has hired EY to advise on the transaction, a person aware of the matter said on the condition of anonymity, adding the deal is expected to be valued at around ₹500 crore. "The process is underway, and discussions with the shortlisted bidders are ongoing. However, no final decision has been taken yet," a second person added.
Founded in 1959, Manjilas Food Tech is among Kerala's oldest packaged foods companies. Its flagship Double Horse brand sells breakfast mixes, rice powders, spices, ready-to-cook foods, pickles and instant foods. Double Horse competes with brands Eastern, Nirapara, Brahmins, Manna, Elite Foods, ID Fresh and Aachi across various categories.
A Manjilas spokesperson said the company is "open to exploring strategic opportunities that can strengthen our business and accelerate growth," but declined to comment on the sale. Manjilas reported revenue of ₹341.5 crore in FY25, up 8% year-on-year, but slipped to a net loss of ₹4 crore, compared with a net profit of ₹90 lakh in FY24.
EY did not respond to emailed queries, while Wipro Consumer declined to comment.
EID Parry India Ltd, the Murugappa Group's listed food and agribusiness company, said it "continuously evaluates various strategic opportunities in the ordinary course of business for growth and expansion." It added that so far, there is no event or information that requires mandatory disclosure by the company, and that it would make disclosures if required.
Large consumer companies are increasingly looking to buy out established brands. In 2020, Norway's Orkla acquired a majority stake in Kerala-based Eastern Condiments, one of India's largest spice makers, before buying out its minority shareholders. Reliance Consumer Products entered the category by acquiring Southern Health Foods, owner of the Manna brand, while Wipro bought Nirapara and Brahmins.
EID Parry sells Parry's-branded including sugar, packaged rice, millets, dals, sweeteners and value-added sugar products. In FY26, it reported consolidated revenue of ₹38,534 crore, up 21.9% year-on-year, while consolidated net profit declined 22.1% to ₹1,380 crore.
Wipro Consumer is accelerating its expansion through acquisitions. On Thursday, it agreed to acquire TTK Healthcare's Eva and Good Home brands for ₹256 crore, while earlier in the week, it agreed to acquire Philippine personal care company S Brands Consumer Care Inc. If completed, the Double Horse acquisition would be its 18th acquisition globally.
After announcing the acquisition of Eva and Good Home brands, Wipro Consumer CEO Kumar Chander said his company plans to "double down" on food in India, calling it a key growth area. While the company would continue to grow organically, "if there are good acquisitions that make sense for us, then this will also be considered in our strategy," said Chander, also managing director of Wipro Enterprises.
"We have invested more than $1 billion across these various acquisitions; every acquisition that we have done has grown both in terms of revenues and profitability. As an organization, we are continuing to pursue new opportunities because we are confident that whatever we acquire, we can scale and make much bigger," Chander told reporters.
Wipro Consumer entered the packaged foods category in December 2022, acquiring the Nirapara brand from KKR Group companies. Later, it expanded its portfolio in May 2023 by acquiring the Brahmins brand and related intellectual property for ₹190 crore, along with certain manufacturing assets for about ₹27.7 crore.
According to Technopak, a Gurugram-based consulting firm, India's packaged food market was valued at ₹10.18 trillion in FY24, and is expected to expand to ₹17.12 trillion by FY29, driven by urbanization, changing consumption patterns and rising demand for convenience foods.