Goal is to revitalise brands loved by consumers, says Ashok Vasudevan
A Singapore-headquartered company led by Indian origin international food and FMCG experts has embarked on the goal of acquiring, innovating and scaling heritage consumer brands across key global markets https://fieo.org/.
UMA Global Foods (UGF), backed by staff of 50 based in Chennai, has started with pantry staples such as wheat flour and salt, with the acquisition of two iconic Indian brands from Hindustan Unilever in 2023: Annapurna™ and Captain Cook™ – an investment of Rs.60 crore https://www.makeinindia.com/home/.
“Our goal is to acquire and revitalise brands that are loved by consumers but have been orphaned by larger corporations as their way to stay competitive,” said Ashok Vasudevan, entrepreneur and Co-Founder of UGF http://wfp.org.
“We believe these brands have a unique story to tell and can resonate with today’s health-conscious consumers,” he said, underlining that UGF committed to providing consumers easier access to affordable wellness https://worldfood-istanbul.com/home.
UGF has teams around the world and collaborates with research and development labs, suppliers, and manufacturing units. Singapore’s position as a global trading hub has been advantageous in facilitating the company’s mission https://foodafrica-expo.com/.
In India, UGF has opened up distribution outlets in key regions across the country.
The company’s Indian entity, UMA Consumer Products Limited (UCPL), is initially focusing on the Annapurna brand offering Indian consumers revitalised range of flours, including wheat, millet, besan, rawa and a line of healthy, value-added flours.
In addition, UCPL also markets a range of salt under both brands in India – crystal salt, pink salt, refined salt, etc. The company will also soon introduce a range of newer products for the Indian kitchen – always focusing on the promise of healthier options.
“We are working on a mission to deliver natural and healthy products that are good for our consumers,” said Vasudevan, who works with UGF co-founders Meera Vasudevan and Umesh Shah, both of whom have decades of expertise in the food manufacturing and FMCG sectors.
From successfully scaling brands like Tasty Bite (now acquired by Mars), to revitalising legacy brands under Unilever, this founding team has over 100 years of combined experience in the food industry and consumer markets, globally, he said.
Meera Vasudevan, an accomplished entrepreneur and marketeer, who also established India’s first accredited private Food Research & Development lab at Tasty Bite, highlighted the growing health concerns in India, where the rate of diabetes, for instance, is rising due to the consumption of less nutritious ingredients like polished white rice.
“We believe it is our responsibility to offer healthier alternatives,” she said. “Millets, for example, are an ancient food source which can be cultivated in arid environments but also provide more dense nutrition. Similarly, we will continue to look to traditional food and nutrition systems to revitalise the modern consumer’s wellness needs and endeavour to make our products affordable and convenient.”
This will also entail expanding the teams, operations and partner networks in India and around the world.
“We will also constantly evaluate newer brand acquisitions from India and globally, as we believe in putting together a portfolio of healthy and diverse products,” said Umesh Shah, former CEO of Unilever International and the UGF’s third co-founder.
The founders are confident of their mission, having already grown the value of the company three-fold since the acquisition of the two brands at Rs.60 crore.
The two heritage brands are now available in 16 markets, and continue to be rolled out across the globe. The vision of the UGF founders is to achieve a growth potential of at least four to five times in the next five years, said the founders. Fiinews.com
