INDIA – Grupo Bimbo, a leading Mexican bakery, has bought Indian bread brand Modern Foods from EverFoods Asia, a bread and bakery platform of private equity firm Everstone Capital.
Established in 1965, Modern Foods is an Indian manufacturer of white, sweet, health and wellness breads, as well as cakes, rusks, creme bites and muffins.
The company operates seven manufacturing units across India, with its products sold through a distribution network covering over 80,000 retailers nationwide.
The deal marks the third time that Modern Foods has changed ownership.
Everfoods acquired Modern Foods from Hindustan Unilever (HUL) back in April 2016, relaunching its iconic bread brand nationwide in June 2017.
HUL had bought Modern Foods from the government in 2000 as part of the divestment process and decided to exit as part of its strategy to leave non-core sectors.
Modern Food Industries was set up by the government 1965 as Modern Bakeries in Madras and was renamed as Modern Food in 1982.
Grupo Bimbo is the largest baking company in the world, operating in 33 countries, including in India, and has a diversified portfolio of over 13,000 products and more than 100 brands.
When sold off to HUL it was controlling over 40% of India’s bread market and had diversified to fruit juice concentrates under brand name Rasika in New Delhi and aerated soft drinks Double Seven.
According to Everstone, under its leadership, Modern Foods strengthened its geographic coverage, grew its portfolio and expanded from a bread brand to a baked goods company.
Roshini Bakshi, managing director of Everstone Capital Asia, said: “We had a phenomenal experience in rejuvenating the legacy brand of Modern and bringing it to the dining table of consumers again.
“Modern has unlocked its potential through its portfolio expansion and wider reach thereby exhibiting tremendous growth,” Bakshi added.
Grupo Bimbo is the largest baking company in the world, operating in 33 countries, including in India, and has a diversified portfolio of over 13,000 products and more than 100 brands.
Earlier this year, Grupo Bimbo’s venture capital arm, Bimbo Ventures, made a minority investment in allergy-friendly snack brand Rule Breaker Snacks.
The investment from Mexican bakery company Grupo Bimbo reportedly marks Rule Breaker Snacks’ first external funding.
“It has been an amazing journey for us over the past few years, and we have so many great things on the horizon,” said Nancy Kalish, founder of Rule Breaker Snacks.
“We are thrilled to have Bimbo Ventures behind us to help drive future growth and opportunity for Rule Breaker Snacks.”
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