Innoterra to scale up exports of basmati rice, spices from India
The Swiss-Indian food and technology platform, Innoterra, is eyeing growth in its bulk commodities business of rice and spices exports from India on growing global demand.
The company, which exports basmati rice from India, is considering investing in a rice mill as part of its backward integration plans, while expanding its spices exports basket.
Innotera currently sources basmati rice from Karnal region, and has now started establishing sourcing channels in countries such as Thailand, Vietnam and Pakistan, said Pascal Foehn, Group CEO, Innoterra.
The company exports rice from India mainly to Middle East, Turkey, Europe. “We have large buyers in Africa and now, since three months, we are also exporting to the US,” he said.
Innoterra is looking to export around 40,000 tonnes of rice this year, up from last year’s 25,000 tonnes. As part of its backward integration plans, Innoterra is looking at investing in a rice mill in India over the next 12-18 months, Pascal added.
The company had clocked a revenue of $52 million last year. Innoterra has around 230 people, mostly of them in India, while it also has small teams in Dubai, the Philippines and in China.
“This year, we plan to do around $60 million to $80 million in the topline. Priority for us is profitable growth. We have already become operational break even for the month of February this year. We are eyeing a break-even in the course of next financial year,” Pascal said.
Besides the international bulk exports of rice, spices and perishables, Innoterra has created a technology enabled supply chain that helps connect farmers and farmer producer organisation directly with buyers such as retailers and general trade with a presence in four cities.
There are over 7600 retailers active on its agritech platform FarmLink, which the company is planning to double to over 15,000 next year, Pascal said.
Innoterra, which started exporting spices business from Guntur exporting chilli powder is exploring other products such as cumin and other products, said Avinash Kasinathan, Head of India Business.
Innoterra also operates a dairy business — MilkLane through which it has started procuring high quality, aflatoxin and antibiotic safe milk for dairy companies and startups in the southern part of country.
The milk procurement services is being launched in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
Innoterra has a network of over 10,000 small farmers and has more than 150 bulk milk coolers and milk processing facility with a capacity of 2 lakh litres per day.