Know about spices firm Nirapa, being bought by Wipro Consumer Care
Launched in 1976, Nirapara is well known for its blended spices. It has a distribution chain covering more than 150,000 retail outlets
Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting, a smart lighting and home lighting firm, has made an entry into the lucrative packaged food and spices business. On Monday (December 19), it said it is buying Nirapara, a Kerala-based packaged food and spices brand, for an undisclosed amount.
The Wipro group firm is just the latest entrant to the domestic spices industry, where FMCG firms such as Dabur, Emami, Tata Consumer Products and ITC have a sizable presence.
More about Nirapara
Nirapara is one of the largest-selling traditional food brands in Kerala. It produces and markets rice powder for appam, idiyappam, puttu, dosa and idli, among other things. It also makes packaged atta, semolina and other wheat products.
Also read: Wipro acquires packaged food and spices brand Nirapara
Launched in 1976, Nirapara is well known for its blended spices. Apart from single-ingredient powders such as black pepper, chilli and fennel powder, it makes masalas for sambar, rasam, curries and so on. Additionally, it makes dessert mixes (payasams) and pickles.
The company had an annualised revenue of ₹100 crore. Presently, 63 per cent of its business comes from Kerala, 8 per cent from the rest of India and the remaining 29 per cent from international markets, largely Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.
Nirapa has a distribution chain covering more than 150,000 retail outlets through 500 distributors spread across the country, according to its website. The company is currently owned by KKR Group, which specialises in rice processing. Its production units are located in Okkal Township, near Kochi.
Diversification move
For Wipro Consumer Care, which has been on an acquisition spree, Nirapara is the 13th to join the stable. “It gives us a clear foothold in the spices and read-to-cook segment,” said the FMCG firm.
It seeks to use the acquisition to tap the “huge opportunity in this space for shifting consumers from unorganised to organised market by offering authentic, pure and trusted spice mixes.”