Patanjali Foods Ltd., a group company belonging to the famous Patanjali Group is an Indian FMCG company that was founded by Baba Ramdev and Balkrishna in the year 2006 in Haridwar in the Indian State of Uttarakhand. Over the years, the company has grown and diversified its presence into multiple segments, such as ayurvedic medicine, personal care, cosmetics and food products. Today, the Indian multinational conglomerate has become a formidable force to be reckoned with, cruising past many well established competitors in the Indian FMCG sector.
Claus from Food Infotech had an exclusive interaction with Mr. Suman K. Jha, Head of Operations & Dr. Sanjeev Sharma, DGM – R&D, (Food & Oils) & CQA, Patanjali Foods Ltd. They shared more details on the company’s performance in the edible oils segment over the past 1 year. Further, they also offered his suggestions on how the Indian Government could step in and play a vital role in encouraging the production of edible oilseeds domestically, which can further reduce the country’s dependence on imports and a lot more.
Edited Excerpts Below:
1. Please start off by telling us a little about how the edible oil business has performed in 2022.
Patanjali Foods business has been performing reasonably well and has been experiencing a steady growth over the past 3 quarters. Most of us are already aware about the fact that edible oil is and continues to be used as a basic necessity by the majority of Indian households and the consumption of the same has been rising over the years, owing to rise in disposable incomes and growth of the Indian economy. Therefore, we are also confident that the edible oils segment is bound to experience a continued growth in the coming years as well.
Bearing in mind the current opportunities for growth and expansion, Patanjali Foods has been keenly focussed on ensuring the deployment of not only the best of technology, but also ensuring the offering of premium taste for its consumers.
2. Could you take us through the process of how edible oils are being utilized in your production operations?
There are two type of Oils
1) Oils which can be eaten in its raw state.
2) Those can’t be eaten in their raw/crude state, So must be refined.
The edible oils that can be consumed raw- actually undergo a process by which they are crushed and filtered, so that the Natural Taste and Aroma can be retained.
Currently, in this category we are having KachiGhani Mustard oil, Sesame oil, Coconut oil and Groundnut oil in our product basket. All of these are crushed and filtered, so that the natural taste & aroma and Healthy Natural Nutrients can be retained.
3. Please tell us a little about the edible oil refining process that takes place in your operations.
Those can’t be eaten in their raw/crude state, must be refined.
In refining process, all unwanted components of crude oil (i.e. Gums, waxes, odour, etc.) are removed to make them edible.
There are 2 common types of oil refining.
The first one being conventional Chemical refining and the other being Physical refining.
As far as Chemical refining is concerned, harsh chemicals in large doses are used to remove the undesirable materials and in the process, all the Natural Antioxidants also get destroyed. Resulting in Clear, watery white and shining Oil, but, without any Natural antioxidants.
However, in the case of Physical refining, instead of Harsh Chemicals Enzymes, Bleaching earth etc. are used, resulting in removal of all undesired components and Natural antioxidants of Oils are retained in the oil, thereby making it Healthier.
4. How many types of physically refined oils are being offered by the company today?
Currently, Patanjali Foods Limited is the only company in the market that has been offering 3 Physically refined oils, namely Physically refined Rice bran oil, Physically refined Soya bean oil and Physically refined Sunflower oil.
5. Can you let us know why you feel that there exists an enormous potential for growth of edible oil business in the coming days?
The Indian Government has been advocating “Be Indian – Buy Indian” as per its National policy and is providing incentives to boost the domestic production of edible oil seeds. This could help in increasing the production volume of oil seeds in the country and reduce the country’s dependence on imports.
While edible oil consumption in the country has experienced a boom over the past 2 decades, the production of edible oils has continued to remain deficient in India. If the Indian Government continues to promote the cultivation of edible oil seeds locally, it could provide the much needed boost to the farmers across the country to cultivate edible oil seeds in huge numbers, owing to which there could be an enormous opportunity for making available edible oils domestically. This would in turn help reduce the dependence on edible oil imports that can result in substantial foreign exchange saving for the country, which in turn will be beneficial not only for the consumers, but also for the country as a whole.
6. Has the high costs of edible oils been a prime concern for your company today? Has it been posing any challenge for your business today?
Although, there has been a rise in costs of edible oils in the past few year, it has not had any major impact on the growth of our business. The foremost reason for the same is that edible oils are essential commodities, which are being used by majority of Indian households on a daily basis. While, there could be a minor decline in the volume of edible oils purchased by consumers today, the rise in costs has not impacted our business performance in any way. We continue to experience a steady growth in this segment even today.
7. Please tell us a little on any new developments that are taking place in the company.
We have recently been working towards developing various types of organic food products in the market. We are currently at an experimental stage and have been growing organic vegetables in our farm lands in Haridwar. Moreover, we have also been offering some of the produce to our employees, so that it would increase the level of awareness among them about organic foods and their benefits for consumers. Further, we also intend to take this up as a project in the future and undertake the distribution of the produce to the various retail outlets that are spread across the country.
8. Any suggestions you’d like to offer to the Indian Government for helping boost the growth of this sector?
I feel that Government must offer more incentives and MSP – to the farmers across the country to grow oilseeds in the country, as India is a huge importer of various types of edible oils even today. If our farmers across the country are encouraged to grow more and more oilseeds domestically, it can pave way for higher growth of this sector and could also provide a real boost to the country’s Agro-economy in the coming years.