Future Group hitches wagon to Tata’s Star

Future Consumer Enterprise Ltd (FCEL) is set to forge distribution alliances with retailers to sell a range of food and non-food products, with a targeted revenue of Rs4,000 crore in 2016-17, Future Group head Kishore Biyani said on Thursday.

The company announced a tie-up with Star, a Tata and Tesco enterprise, to retail its products across Star Bazaar stores.

"This alliance is a stepping stone, and we are in talks with all modern retailers for similar alliances, and FCEL targets a revenue of Rs4,000 crore in FY17," Biyani, chief executive of Future Group, told reporters in Mumbai.

"We are targeting about 8-10 per cent of sales for our products in Star Bazaar. They have given us the space, it is now up to us," he added.

Star Bazaar aims to introduce over 148 SKUs (stock keeping units) across 10 FCEL brands.

The company currently has over 30 brands across food and non-food categories, with about 350 SKUs. Biyani said it will introduce about 1,000 SKUs by the end of the current fiscal.

Future Group is currently in the process of evaluating different distribution models and has started a pilot in Varanasi, where they have appointed distributors in the general trade.

"We want to go all-India with our FMCG distribution and have appointed distributors in Varanasi, and will be selling our products in about 5,000 stores in the city. We are only selling one brand, Tasty Treat," Biyani said.

The company targets an all-India launch in 18-20 months, he added.

Future Consumer Enterprise brands have expanded their reach so far through Nilgiri's KB's Fair Price/KB's Conveniently Yours, Big Apple, Aadhar and Easy Day stores and are present in 750 outlets including Big Bazaar, the company said.