Jashvik Capital, a growth private equity firm, is acquiring a significant minority stake in Jabsons Foods Pvt. Ltd, an ethnic savoury snacks firm based in Bharuch, Gujarat, a person in the know said. This is Jashvik Capital’s first investment from its recent fund.
Founded in 1992 by Satyanarayan and Rahul Agrawal, Jabsons is focused on healthier products made out of peanuts, chana or chickpea, nut chikkis and namkeens. Jabsons is fully backward-integrated and sells its products pan-India through multiple channels. It also has global presence in markets such as the US, Canada and the UK.
Jashvik Capital will acquire around a 30% stake in Jabsons, the person said. However, he did not disclose the financial details of the transaction.
Founded by Naresh Patwari, a former partner at TA Associates, Jashvik Capital focuses on healthcare and consumer companies, and is raising its maiden fund with a target corpus of $350-million.
The infusion from Jashvik Capital will be used by Jabsons to strengthen its distribution network, expand its team and accelerate growth.
“Ethnic snacks industry has strong tailwinds for growth and presents a great opportunity to create businesses with large scale and, within that, the ethnic packaged snacks market which is almost half of the industry size, is growing at a faster rate than the industry,” the person said. The Indian savoury snacks market is valued at ₹751 billion in 2022 and will reach ₹1,227 billion by 2026 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13%, according to Bikaji Foods International Ltd‘s IPO prospectus, which cited a report by Frost & Sullivan.
Bikaji Foods had raised ₹881 crore through its initial public offering in November, and was subscribed 27 times.
According to the report, the traditional snacks market in India is valued at ₹ 366 billion, and contributes around 48% to the savoury snacks segment. Traditional snacks comprise namkeens, bhujia, and ethnic snacks such as samosa, chakli and kachori. India’s Western snacks market is a ₹ 385 billion segment, consisting of chips, extruders and bridges, which caters to local palates but has a western feel and look.
Emails to Jabsons and Jashvik did not elicit any response.