WayCool Foods acquires Benani Foods, enters ready-to-cook segment

Food supply chain startup WayCool Foods and Products has acquired a significant stake in Chennai-based Benani Foods. According to a statement, Benani Foods will be using the investment to launch new products.

WayCool has bought stakes of angel investors, including that of TVS Electronics.

Manufacturer of ready-to-cook products and food ingredients, Benani Foods retails its products under the brand name Freshey's. Post the acquisition, Freshey's that caters to 1,250 retail outlets and up to 50 enterprise clients, will continue to operate under the same brand.

Also read: Chennai-based Waycool Foods raises $2.7 million from Aspada Investment

Sanjay Dasari, Co-founder of WayCool Foods, said,

"In the past few years, we have established scale in procurement and distribution of raw staples and fresh produce. At the same time, our clients are increasingly experimenting with value added, ready-to-cook products delivered from these, such as premixes and batters, to simplify their own operations. Our investment into Freshey's will help us serve this need better."

Earlier this month, WayCool acquired physical distribution business of Bengaluru-based Aalgro Foods. These acquisitions are part of the company's strategy to build a full stack food supply chain.

"Freshey's have built a reputation for quality and consistency, with recipes that are significantly tuned to local tastes, as well as systematic, hygienic operations. We are excited to partner with them and bring their products to our enterprise and retail clients," Sanjay added.

In January, WayCool Foods raised Rs 120 crore. The round was a combination of equity and debt, led by global impact investor LGT Impact. Prominent angel investors Northern Arc Capital and Caspian also participated in the round.

The company is currently serving 200 tonnes of food products every day to up to 5,000 clients, sourced from 35,000 farmers.

Venkatesh Deivanayagam, Founder of Benani Foods, said,

"We see strong synergies between the two companies, given their deep procurement ability and wide distribution footprint, and our large pipeline of distinctive products. We will use the current equity to further cement our position in Chennai, and subsequently expand our presence into the rest of Southern India."

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