Future Group is one of India’s retail pioneers with multiple retail formats. Currently, they are in advanced talks to acquire grocery retailer Foodworld Supermarkets.
This deal would give Kishore Biyani sway over a network of nearly 150 groceries, beauty and personal care stores in southern India.
If the deal cracks then it will be Kishore Biyani’s sixth acquisition over the years.
The supermarket chain was started nearly two decades ago as a division of Spencer & Co., part of the RPG Group, but became a separate company in 1999.
It is now owned by Arko Enterprises and Health & Glow Retailing through a group of investors.
Last fiscal, Foodworld posted sales of Rs 449 crore at a net profit of Rs 2.3 crore through 36 grocery supermarkets and 121 Health & Glow beauty stores.
Biyani aims to be a consumer product company instead of just a retailer and this can happen if he controls a wider network of stores.
Future Consumer has more than three dozen brands in 70 categories, including food brands such as Sunkist, Karmiq, Golden Harvest, Fresh & Pure, Premium Harvest and Tasty Treat.
Biyani expects the firm to contribute 70% to Future Group’s consumer goods sales by 2022.
The retailer has not been aggressively expanding larger-format like Big Bazaar but aggressively adding stores mainly in the smaller or convenience store formats.
This will target the daily and weekly requirements of consumers, while the hypermarket format of Big Bazaar will cater to the monthly consumption basket of urban India.
