Agro Tech Foods Limited

Summary

Agro Tech Foods Ltd: A Emerging Story

About The Company

Agro Tech Foods Limited (ATFL) is a public Limited company, engaged in the business of manufacturing, marketing and selling of a wide range of Food Products and Edible Oils. The food categories in which the Company competes includes Ready to Cook Snacks , Ready to Eat snacks, Spreads & Dips, Breakfast Cereals and Chocolate Confectionery. ATFL are listed both on the National Stock Exchange(NSE) and Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

ATFL is affiliated to ConAgra Brands, Inc. of USA, which is one of the world's largest food companies. ATFL's vision is to become the Best Performing Most Respected Foods Company in India.

All their product offerings correspond with our Mission of "Nourishing families... Enriching life".

ATFL's Product Portfolio:

Ready to Eat Snacks

Ready to Cook Snacks

Cereal Snacks

Chocolate Confectionery

Spreads

Oil

Huge Opportunity Size: - Category Wise

Business Performance Highlights:

Ready to Cook Snacks

Strong 14% Volume growth in FY’22 driven by RTC Popcorn. Pricing reflected in higher Value Growth.

• Sweet Corn Volumes stabilize post 40% price increase.
• Roll out of Mini Meal Kits underway with some disruption by 3rd Wave of Covid19.
• Going forward, continue to focus on Volume Growth to offset impact of commodity prices on GM. However, seek Pricing on premium offerings.
• Roll out of differentiated Pasta & Noodles offering supported by retail demos. Very positive acceptance.

Ready to Eat Snacks

• Significant rebound with reduced threat of Covid19. Growth led by RTE Popcorn. Together with broad scale pricing this has driven
  Value.
• GM attrition in Category largely addressed through Price Increases, Grammage Reduction and Packaging Footprint changes.
• Potato Chips model under development.
• Further margin improvement work underway through work on Value Added offerings with Extruded Panned and Protein Snacks.
• New higher margin offerings will help to deliver the right combination of FTL Product Mix with Distance from Plant.

Spreads & Dips

Volume softness addressed through new pricing which is starting to flow through. Focus on Volume Growth.

• New High Protein Variant development underway. Launch in Q2, FY’23.
• Chocolate Spreads end the year with a 24% Volume Growth with steady build up of Category.
• Work underway to stabilize Supply Chain of Hummus offering.
• Launch of Salsa scheduled for Q2, FY’23.

Breaskfast Cereals

Continued strong Growth with improved market working. Increased focus on larger Packs - expanding from “Cereal Snacks” into “Breakfast Cereals”.

• Steady QOQ growth with strong exit rates.
• National launch of Oats scheduled for Q2. However only Value Added Oats to be included in Foods Revenues:
• Record sales of Value Added Oats (12% GST) in Breakfast Cereals.
• Record sales of Plain Oats (5% GST) in Premium Staples.
• On track for a profitable business in FY’23.

Chocolates

Strong end to FY’22 with 4 X Revenues of FY’21.

• Excellent acceptance of Peanut Duo – key to further margin improvement.
• Removal of tray completed in Rs. 10 Coconut Duo bar to improve Margin. Peanut Duo underway.
• Further Margin improvement through doubling of Capacity in Sem 1, FY’23 and then again in Sem 2, FY’23.
• Key Growth Driver in FY’23.

Edible Oils

Premium Oils (Sundrop Heart & Superlite) Volumes deliver a YTD 100+ Index. More channel consistency required.

• Going forward modify definition to “Premium Staples” (15-20% GM) to:
• Accommodate increasing need for non Oil Staples as we build the Foods business.
• Better Manage Revenue Impact of pricing swings in Edible Oils.
• Mass Oils Volume reflect franchising of Crystal w.e.f. November, 2021 and overall reduction in Mass Oils in line with strategy.
• Strong Gross Margin performance with Total Oils GM ahead of PY.

Business Summary

Steady continued growth in Foods – Q2 results of Rs. 124 crore the closest ever to an Annual Revenue Rate of Rs. 500 crore.

• Largely able to navigate through the choppy waters of commodity prices of Q1 with the help of Pricing, Mix, Operating Leverage & softening of input costs post Q1.
• Reduced Total Revenue dependence on Mass Staples (now down to c 5% of the Total Business) in line with Strategy.
• Making clear progress towards becoming “The Best Performing Most Respected Foods Company in India”. 
• Deliver strong growth in Foods boosted by an improved RTC growth.
• Seek opportunities to improve A&P on Foods with greater stability in in Edible Oils.
• Scale up Spreads to be Rs. 100 crore+ with RTE close behind.
• Build Breakfast Cereals to be an A&P grade business.
• Leverage the Chocolate Opportunity presented by High Quality products supported by a Best in Class Distribution Network.
• Diversify Premium Staples with the objective of creating a less volatile business and greater stability in Margin.
• Maintain Mass Staples at c 5% of Total Revenues.

Ready to Cook Snacks in FY22

• Post strong Growth in FY’22, RTC Popcorn sees impact of lower WFH with YTD Revenues marginally lower than PY. Impact partly mitigated by distribution expansion. With PY normalization expect to return to historical growth levels.
• Commodity headwinds largely addressed through Pricing & Mix.
• Non Popcorn range expanded with Snacking Aids (Sweet Corn/Pizza & Pasta Sauce) and Snacking Kits (Pasta/Noodles). Both past initial seeding challenges, growing steadily and contributing to c 5% of the RTC category.
• Continue to lead Category Growth with Ready to Cook Popcorn. Expand Distribution & continue investing in Media Support.
• Expand the penetration of Snacking Aids – Sweet Corn, Pizza & Pasta Sauces etc. Leverage ability to deliver High Quality Snacking Aids at affordable price points.
• Scale up Snacking Kits – rely on Consumer Contact as a lever of Growth. Strengthen with non dairy protein i.e. Plant Meats.
• Initiate entry into the baking & beverage areas of Snacking. Keep evaluating opportunities to expand TAM by leveraging capabilities.

Ready to Eat Snacks FY22

• End of Work From Home drives strong growth in Out of Home.
• Salty Snacks growth led by RTE Popcorn – biggest beneficiary of OOH.
• Sweet Snacks portfolio expanded with launch of Duo Cruncheez – Sweet now accounting for between 5% and 10% of RTE Snacks.
• Margin headwinds successfully addressed through Grammage Reduction, Packaging Changes & Go To Market.
• Refinement of business model for Potato/Vegetable Chips underway.
• Continue to enhance scale in Salty Snacks categories led by Ready To Eat Popcorn while working towards greater efficiencies in Extruded and Tortilla Chips.
• Refine business model for Potato/Vegetable Chips – seek to harness smaller but more profitable niches.
• Seek disproportionate growth in Sweet & Savory Snacks. Enhance ability to go deeper from existing locations by reducing Packaging Material & Freight.
• Continually refine portfolio to profitably fulfill the category role as the Conveyor Belt for ATFL distribution. 

Spreads & Dips

• Strong Volume Growth and resultant Share Gains in Peanut Butter. Capacity expansion work underway to meet higher demand levels.
• PB extension initiated for a Protein play with the launch of “PeAq” Peanut Butter.
• Expanded Chocolate Spreads Range- Peanut, Almond & Hazelnut.
• Clear leadership in Nut Butters with increasing presence in Chocolate Spreads - In house manufacturing and robust distribution footprint.
• Dips range being extended to include Salsa.
• Continue to build Nut Butters led by recipe based Peanut Butter – Distribution Expansion, Media Support and Entry Level Packs.
• Undertake Capacity Expansion and Cost Reduction programs to translate the benefit of higher Volumes into Margin Improvement.
• Keep building Chocolate Spreads for a reasonable scale. Likely No.3 Player now – Continue scaling up while also undertaking recipe modifications.
• Expand Dips (Hummus/Salsa) leveraging ability to deliver high quality products at affordable price points. Dressings currently lower in Priority.

Breakfast Cereals

Strong Volume Growth driven by Center Filled Cereals with clear product superiority. Increased OOH and Retailing drives Visibility & Distribution.

• Category Distribution starts to nudge the 100,000 store mark.
• Continued growth in the Granola category driven by product superiority and powerful entry level price points.
• Launch of Value Added Oats - expansion of Category Presence and thereby benefits of increased Scale. 
• Continue to drive Category presence with Center Filled Cereals - Superior Product Quality & Innovation.
• Together with Distribution Expansion addressing Cereals as a Snack, build On Shelf Presence in the primary Breakfast Cereals Category with a complete SKU line up – Low Cash Ring Packs, Resealable Bags, Boxes.
• Expand presence in the Granola & Muesli category leveraging credibility built through our current Granola offering.
• Expand distribution of Value Added Oats driven by superior Value Proposition.

Chocolates

Successfully established credibility in the category with the launch of Coconut Duo followed by the introduction of Peanut Duo.

• Category Distribution nudging 100,000 stores – fastest growth in ATFL history. 
• Strong Value Proposition combined with Superior Quality drives high level of in store velocity across socio economic groups.
• Broad SKU line created - from Rs. 5 Bars to Rs. 200 Gift Boxes.
• Capacity successfully doubled using a mix of new and used equipment.
• Work underway for additional offerings to increase Revenue/Kg.
• Expand Distribution of both Coconut & Peanut Duo products – long runaway for growth.
• Use In Store Display as a lever for growth. Test the limits of growth possible through Distribution & Display before investing in Media.
• Expand Product Offering to support both Growth and Margin Improvement – increased presence in the Rs. 500-1000/kg price range.
• Modify Grammage and Pack Sizes to further Improve Margin and create a profitable self funding business.
• Build Capacity for a business with Annual Revenues of Rs. 100 crore +.

Management

A graduate from St.Stephen's College, Delhi and MBA from the IIM, Ahmedabad, Sachin Gopal has an accomplished career over the last 25 years in some of the world's leading FMCG companies in India and abroad. He has a strong experience and is a pioneer in Sales, Marketing and Business of the FMCG sector. He joined ATFL in April 2006 as COO, and took over the role of President and CEO from November 1, 2008. Prior his association with ATFL, Sachin was handling the role of Director-Customer Business Development with Procter & Gamble. Prior to this, he had a long career with Gillette India from 1987 to 2005 and handled significant Sales, Marketing and Business roles such as Group Product Manager, Vice President Marketing and General Sales Director. In his overseas assignments, Sachin has handled the roles of Marketing Manager for Gillette Egypt; Group Business Director - Batteries, Duracell Eveready South Africa Pty., Johannesburg S.A and Group Business Manager - Batteries, Gillette Group H.Q. London, U.K. Sachin had started his career with Escorts Ltd., where he worked as Senior Marketing officer. He also spent three years with Cadbury where he worked as Product Manager and Regional Sales Manager.

Shareholding Pattern

Financial Performance

Profit and Loss

Balance Sheet

Cashflow Statement

Business Outlook

• Proven track record of a 19% CAGR in the Snack Foods business over 15 years.
• Profitable Model based on 7-8% A&P spends with demonstrated building of 3 categories already – RTC Popcorn, Peanut Butter & RTE Popcorn.
• Unique Innovation Model which replicates entrepreneurial behavior in a structured environment delivering c 50% of growth.
• Retail Coverage of c 0.5 MM stores at an un-matched cost with resultant SG&A % comparable to businesses already of a $1 Billion Size.
• Now largely free from the uncertainties of the Edible Oils business which has been used to fund the Snack Foods Growth.